Welcome to your Week 5 Headlines in Review, written by the Three Technique Team. This week, the Longhorns looked like the best team in the country, USC had ALL of the defensive woes, and the Georgia Bulldogs nearly got upset again! Let us know what your favorite storyline was, and what your top five ranking would look like in the comments below.
Texas Makes Statement Win over Kansas
Is Texas the best team in the land? The argument for the Longhorns grows with each passing week. The Longhorns have finally built up their trenches, on both sides of the ball, dominating their opponents and proving this is as complete a team as the 40 Acres has seen since the 2000s. Quinn Ewers might have turned it over for the first time all season, but his rally in the second half put the game in cruise control after a slightly sleepy first half. The focus, however, should be on the Texas ground game. Jonathon Brooks made a statement against the Jayhawks, rushing for 218 yards and a pair of scores.
While Jalon Daniels didn’t play, Jason Bean won games for Kansas last year and had over 3,000 yards passing for his career coming in. The Longhorns grounded the Jayhawks’ offense all day, holding them to just 260 yards and 14 points. The “Texas Is Back” joke is played out, but this team is for real. The Longhorns will put it all on the line against Oklahoma next week in a battle of the last two undefeated teams in the Big 12.
USC Has an Alex Grinch Problem
On our Week 5 Live Show, Mitch made the point that Alex Grinch might be the only thing holding USC back from actually contending for a national title (You can jump to that exact topic here). Despite Lincoln Riley’s insistence that USC is fine and Grinch is a valuable member of the team, the numbers tell a far different story.
Let’s look at the Trojans’ 48-41 win over Colorado yesterday for starters. USC was up 31-14 at the half. Shedeur Sanders was held to just 109 passing yards, and the Buffs’ defense was clearly outgunned. The result didn’t feel like it was in doubt…and that ended up being the problem. Instead of coming out in the second half and crushing all hope, USC’s defense fell asleep at the wheel. Sanders threw for over 370 yards and four touchdowns. A hapless Colorado rushing attack nearly hit the 200-yard mark. What should have been an Oregon-style beatdown became a one-score game with a minute left in the ball game.
What if you say that’s cherry picking, that this is just a recent example? Let’s look at Grinch’s history. I’ll include a tweet from the College Football Report below that details defensive numbers going back to 2018. Only twice has a Grinch-led defense finished in the top SEVENTY defenses in the country. The passing defense has been especially abysmal, failing to crack the top 100 over the last two seasons. The Trojans sit at 102nd currently.
Caleb Williams threw six touchdown passes yesterday, the first time a Trojan quarterback has done that since 2014…and they were still an onside kick away from sweating out overtime.
Lane Kiffin Finally Wins The Big Game
Raise your hand if you had LSU being eliminated from playoff contention before the calendar turned to October. It certainly wasn’t us!
It took 55 points and several self-inflicted wounds from LSU, but Lane Kiffin claimed victory against the 13th-ranked Tigers on Saturday night. In a game where defense was as rare as a cool breeze in August, we watched both teams accumulate over 800 passing yards and 540 rushing yards. Jaxson Dart was tremendous, throwing for 389 yards and four scores. Jayden Daniels put up great numbers as well, but as some experts noted, Daniels could not handle the Ole Miss pass rush.
On the ground, Quinshon Judkins finally broke out for over 170 yards and two total touchdowns. Judkins’ health is certainly worth monitoring, but a fully operational Ole Miss offense is a dangerous contender in the wide open SEC West.
Statements Galore in the SEC…No, Not You Georgia
Texas A&M’s defense looked like the Wrecking Crew of old against Arkansas. Kentucky ran for all the yards against Florida. Georgia…(checks notes)…struggled mightily against Auburn? Here are three bold takes based off these three games:
Texas A&M Can Win the SEC West
Yup, it can happen. The Aggies welcome Alabama to Kyle Field next weekend for the CBS game of the week. Despite the flashy win from the Rebels, the winner of the game in College Station stands alone atop the SEC West standings. The Aggies’ defense has experienced a renaissance since getting shelled against Miami on the road. After only having 20 sacks all of 2022, the Ags have racked up 17 in the last three games! Max Johnson looked solid as the starting quarterback and Le’Veon Moss appears to be securing the lead running back role after a 100-yard performance yesterday.
Kentucky Will Finish Second in the SEC East
The Wildcats are far from a complete team with the disappointing results dished out from Devin Leary. Still, Ray Davis’s breakout performance on Saturday should leave Kentucky fans feeling hopeful that everything is in front of them. Georgia looks extremely mortal (more on that in a moment), Tennessee already has a conference loss, and South Carolina has proven that all of its hype was at least a season too soon. The Wildcats’ defense stuffed Florida in the running game for just 69 paltry yards. If Mark Stoops and company can continue this script, they could challenge Georgia for the coveted spot in Atlanta. Oh hey, that game is next week!
How Long Will We Pretend Like Georgia Is Top Dawg?
Georgia fans, I don’t think we can pretend like everything is fine anymore. Auburn’s racing out to a 10-0 lead had to scare the living daylights out of you. War Eagle’s vaunted defense bowed up to force a pair of turnovers in the first half. If the Tigers had a halfway competent offense, I wonder if the deficit is much larger than that before Carson Beck led the comeback. Mike Bobo’s early propensity to start slow is a flaw that could cost Georgia its shot at a three-peat. Will that come in the regular season? Kentucky would certainly hope so. One point in the Bulldogs’ favor? Brock Bowers is that dude. The future first round draft pick absolutely helped save the game in the second half, including racing for the game-winning score late in the fourth quarter.
About the author
I've spent the majority of the last decade cutting my teeth in college sports, covering athletics for three separate universities and spent 2021 as an Assistant Athletic Director. I graduated from Texas A&M in 2019 and got my Masters from Dallas Baptist University two years later. My favorite CFB memory will always be Texas A&M's dramatic 7OT win over LSU in 2018, my final game as a student. My passion is telling stories and helping fans get to know their favorite athletes on a personal level, whether that be through articles or a broadcast.
