Kentucky rides upset on defense

On a Saturday where the Alabama Crimson Tide and Georgia Bulldogs clash stole the show, here are five (well, a little more than five) takeaways from an exciting fifth week of college football.

1. The Kentucky Wildcats showcase the strength of their defense as they defeat the No. 6 Ole Miss Rebels on the road

Kentucky’s 2024 offense is still a work in progress (to say the least), but after Saturday’s road upset of No. 6 Ole Miss — the Big Blue’s first win in Oxford, Miss., since 1978 — there’s little debate about it Wildcats defense.

They are elite.

Kentucky recorded four sacks, seven tackles for a loss and held a potent Ole Miss offense to just 3.2 yards per rush on 29 attempts and a 1-for-10 mark on third down.

Sure, the Rebels still racked up plenty of passing yards, especially in the form of the connection between Jaxson Dart and Tre Harris, which resulted in 11 completions for 176 yards and a touchdown. But everything else was made difficult for Ole Miss by Kentucky’s constant defensive pressure throughout the game.

The Wildcats showed their teeth defensively in a near-home upset of then-No. 1 Georgia earlier this month, but backed up their performance with another showstopper on Saturday.

Kentucky is now 3-2 and 1-2 in SEC play. It’s not a conference title contender, but it could certainly be a spoilsport for the SEC contenders for the No. 6 Tennessee Volunteers and No. 1 Texas Longhorns who are still on the program this fall.

2. Friday night’s controversial ending to the No. 7 Miami Hurricanes’ win over the Virginia Tech Hokies underscores the growing problem with officiating in college football

No. 7 Miami found itself in a dogfight with early-season ACC favorite Virginia Tech – a Hokies team that fell from grace after losing its opener to the Vanderbilt Commodores and suffering a home loss to the Rutgers Scarlet three weeks later had to knight.

Virginia Tech head coach Brent Pry made some game management decisions that he would definitely like to have back. Those decisions included an early timeout before a 57-yard field goal before halftime, which gave Miami enough time to drive down the field and kick a field goal with 25 seconds left. The Hokies also tried a fake field in the third quarter after a Cam Ward interception that would have given them a 13-point lead.

What ultimately came down to it was that the Hokies had their last chance on offense. Trailing 38-34 with three seconds left, Virginia Tech quarterback Kyron Drones threw a pass into the back left corner of the end zone. The ball was juggled by a variety of players before it was revealed that Virginia Tech wide receiver Da’Quan Felton had invented the football. It was unclear whether he gained sole possession of the ball before a Miami defender ripped him free as he fought for the ball.

Officials concluded it was a Virginia Tech touchdown that should have given the Hokies one of their biggest road upsets in years. However, after replaying the game for more than five minutes, the conference’s senior command center concluded that Felton never gained possession of the ball.

There didn’t appear to be any conclusive evidence that the on-field decision should have been overturned, but it did anyway, giving Miami a narrow victory.

Virginia Tech made plenty of mistakes that cost it the win, but the kick in the face by the ACC officials at the end of the game underscored the growing feeling in college football that the sport has a problem with game management.

3. The Auburn Tigers snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, and once again a turnover was the culprit

A week after having to turn the ball over five times in a 24-14 home loss to the Arkansas Razorbacks, Auburn again had turnover problems at the worst possible time in a 27-21 home loss to the No. 21 Oklahoma Sooners.

With the Tigers leading 21-16 with just over four minutes to play, Auburn starting quarterback Payton Thorne felt pressure from his right side and threw an inexplicable pass over the middle to the right into the arms of Oklahoma linebacker Kip Lewis. The redshirt sophomore returned the interception 61 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

Auburn’s Hugh Freeze needs to get things right, and quickly, or things could quickly go wrong early in the third year if the Tigers continue to let victories slip through self-inflicted mistakes.

4. The Colorado Buffaloes win again as Travis Hunter continues to make his Heisman Trophy case

Colorado’s dominant 48-21 road win Saturday at the UCF Knights was not only the biggest victory of the Deion Sanders era in Boulder, Colo., but also another step toward legitimizing Travis Hunter’s Heisman case.

Hunter is arguably the best player in college football. He is more than worthy of winning the Heisman. But to win the sport’s most famous individual award, team success is almost always a prerequisite. Hunter is one of the few players in college football who plays both offense and defense, and no one plays both wide receiver and defense as well as he does.

Hunter caught nine passes for 89 yards and a touchdown and added an interception on defense against UCF.

Colorado is 4-1 and 2-0 in Big 12 play. The Buffs have next week off before hosting a ranked team in the Kansas State Wildcats. Colorado has improved after a difficult Year 1 under Sanders, but needs to keep picking up wins for Hunter to have a real chance of capturing the Heisman.

5. No Matthew Sluka? No problem for the group of 5 CFP hopeful UNLV Rebels

It was a very special week for the UNLV football program.

First came a social media post late Tuesday from starting quarterback Matthew Sluka announcing his decision to sit out the remainder of the season, redshirt and transfer, amid alleged “assurances” (NIL payments) that were not met became.

What came next was a PR messaging war pitting UNLV and its NIL collective against Sluka’s camp. Ultimately, there was no signed written contract requiring UNILV (yes, that’s the name of the collective) to make any payment obligation to Sluka.

On the field, UNLV needed to continue the momentum built by the program’s first 3-0 record in 40 years with the Fresno State Bulldogs in town to open Mountain West play.

The result? A 59-14 drubbing of the Rebels in which freshman starter Hajj-Malik Williams posted 182 passing yards, 119 rushing yards and four total touchdowns.

After a week filled with turmoil, the Rebels emerged on the other side with their most lopsided win of the season, earning perhaps their first AP Top 25 ranking in program history on Sunday.