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Those “I can’t believe Missouri is still a Top 25 team” jokes don’t seem so funny now, do they?

What a difference a week makes. Seven days ago, Florida hung a 50-burger on fourth-ranked Ole Miss while Missouri blew a late lead against Mississippi State. 

All of that is yesterday’s news. Saturday afternoon, Missouri blasted eighth-ranked Florida 45-17 in an obvious letdown spot for the Gators. 

Missouri quarterback Austin Simmons was dynamite, finishing 23-of-30 for 340 yards and two scores. Jamal Roberts shredded the Gators for 211 yards and three touchdowns. The Tigers’ defense had a standout day too, limiting the Juke and Duke backfield tandem to just 14 yards on 13 carries.

Lookahead spot aside, Florida’s secondary deficiencies reared their ugly head against a good Missouri passing attack. If the Gators can’t fix that part of the defense, it’ll probably cap how far this team can go.

I dare the Associated Press voters to rank Missouri 25th again this week! 

Don’t look now, but Alabama has a superstar quarterback, a nasty defense, and enough enticing pieces to make serious noise in the SEC and College Football Playoff races.

In a Top 20 tilt against September darlings Mississippi State, the Crimson Tide looked every bit like one of the best teams in college football. Alabama forced four turnovers, including a pair on the first two drives, and racked up almost 500 yards of offense in a convincing 56-23 win over the Bulldogs in Starkville.

The story of this game was two-fold. Mississippi State looked unprepared to meet the moment, especially early in the game. Alabama has what appears to be a top 8 quarterback in college football, and it’s changing the calculus on this team’s ceiling.

“Super Kamario” Taylor lost his powers Saturday afternoon. He committed two turnovers on the first two drives, and despite flashing some individual brilliance, struggled to stay upright for most of the afternoon. He also left the game in the fourth quarter in a walking boot. That’s a troubling development if you’re a Bulldog fan.

As of now, I’m not sure it’s an overreaction to consider Alabama one of the best handful of teams in college football. Keelon Russell is a bona fide superstar. He’s mobile, has great touch, and a real knack for explosive plays. He blasted the Bulldogs’ defense and put the rest of the country on notice.

Clear your calendars for the Crimson Tide’s primetime matchup against Georgia next week.

A week ago, Iowa needed a heroic last-second touchdown to get past Michigan. On Saturday, the Hawkeyes failed to reach the end zone before the fourth quarter in a 31-14 home loss to No. 5 Ohio State. 

What more can you say about Jeremiah Smith? 

He’s the best player in the country, bar none. Every week, he does something more ridiculous than the last. Saturday afternoon, he overwhelmed a good Hawkeyes’ secondary to the tune of 11 catches for 206 yards and two touchdowns. 

For as fundamentally sound as Iowa can look at times, this team has an undeniable ceiling with Hank Brown playing quarterback. 

The Buckeyes appeared to have put that Texas loss in the rearview mirror, and look like the best team in the Big Ten. Iowa still has a favorable schedule the rest of the way, so not all hope is lost.

It’s officially time to smash the panic button in Ann Arbor. 

The Michigan offense stunk up the joint for the fifth time in five games. The offensive line couldn’t generate a push. High-priced quarterback Bryce Underwood looked lost again. It all culminated in a gutting 20-14 road loss to PJ Fleck’s Minnesota. 

I don’t think it’s hyperbolic to suggest the Wolverines are steering into lost-season territory. 

Nothing is working offensively, and you can only ask so much from your defense every week. Despite the hefty price tag, it feels like the right time to bench Underwood for Tommy Carr. 

The schedule only gets tougher for Michigan, with Indiana, Oregon, UCLA, and Ohio State on the horizon. 

Minnesota survived a rough Drake Lindsey game and now sits at 4-1. This team should comfortably gain bowl eligibility.

Miami didn’t play a flawless game, but it didn’t have to. The Hurricanes physically overwhelmed and outschemed Dabo Swinney’s Clemson, cruising to a 41-13 road win in a primetime spot. 

Quarterback Darian Mensah had a nice game, finishing 18-of-27 for 227 yards, one passing touchdown, and another on the ground. Malachi Toney and Cooper Barkate made life hard on the Clemson secondary. The Hurricanes’ defense clamped down on Clemson, allowing just 55 rushing yards.

Miami’s biggest concern moving forward is health. The Hurricanes are clearly the best team in the ACC. How far this team goes depends on how quickly they can get key pieces healthy.

Clemson appears destined for a bang-average bowl game, but could have a part to play in which team faces Miami in the ACC title game due to the schedule.

Stop me if you’ve heard this before. A Shane Beamer South Carolina team jumped out to a big lead, committed a few costly mistakes, blew said lead, and got gut-punched late. 

Kentucky fell into a 17-0 hole, dug out, found a way to force overtime, and pulled off the nastiest sequence of plays to steal it 35-34 in overtime. 

South Carolina scored six plays into overtime and converted the PAT. It took the Wildcats just four plays to answer with a nifty pop pass to pull within one. Stein had seen enough. He opted to go for two. The Wildcats converted and walked it off in thrilling fashion, potentially driving the nail into Beamer’s coaching coffin. 

After an offseason of excitement, Stein is making good on his promise of a different Kentucky football program. The Wildcats sit at 4-1 (2-1), and if things break right, could become bowl-eligible by season’s end. 

Beamer, on the other hand, looks like a dead coach walking. The Gamecocks have somehow squandered two generational talents in LaNorris Sellers and Dylan Stewart, and appear headed toward the bottom of the SEC. 

South Carolina travels to Gainesville next week, before a bye week. Beamer’s time might be coming to an end. 

ICYMI, Oregon State shellacked Colorado State 56-26 in the Rams’ homecoming game. That is not the headline. 

In the most bizarre move of the day, Colorado State coach Jim Mora stripped defensive coordinator Tyson Summers of his play-calling duties in the first quarter. Summers never returned to the sideline after halftime. 

Shortly after the game, Mora confirmed that Summers was no longer with the football program. 

Is getting fired mid-game better or worse than being fired on the tarmac? Inquiring minds want to know.

The vibes around the USC football program right now are strange. Very strange. For parts of Saturday night’s game against Washington, it felt like the Trojans might fold and see their season implode. 

But with their backs against the wall, the Trojans answered with defense and held off a last-minute rally from the Huskies to notch a much-needed 25-21 win to quiet the Lincoln Riley rumors… for now.

The embattled USC defense came to play and not only got that crucial late-game stop but also chipped in a big time scoop-and-score to take the lead in the second half.

A big game in Happy Valley awaits.

Good teams go on the road and find ways to win. That’s exactly what BYU did Saturday night. 

The Cougars had a rough offensive outing, tallying 216 total yards with 62 through the air. But the defense came to play and held TCU to just 259 total yards in a 17-10 win in Fort Worth. 

The biggest concern for BYU moving forward is health and development in the passing game. Star running back LJ Martin left the game injured. Here’s hoping he heals up and can get back on the field soon with a big game against Notre Dame looming in two weeks.

Texas Tech needed a comedy of errors from Colorado to push through a sluggish offensive start to pull past the Buffaloes 29-7. 

Will Hammond remains unconvincing in the passing game. That’s the single biggest question mark with this team right now.

Chip Kelly schemed up a diabolical, reconfigured Wing-T offense, and Northwestern ran roughshod over Penn State 34-13 on Friday night in the Wildcats’ debut in new Ryan Field. 

The atmosphere was awesome. The Wildcats’ run game was electric. Penn State got gashed for 413 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. 

Where do we go from here?

Northwestern appears to have taken the Giant Pain in the Rear End belt from West Virginia. Hoo boy, is this team tough to play against. They run the ball with a beautiful blend of creativity and sharpness that’s rare to find in the modern game. David Braun continues to do more with less. I couldn’t be more impressed with this team. 

Penn State, on the other hand, looks like a team that lacks a cutting edge. On Friday night, the Nittany Lions had a terrible time getting off the field. The offense looked stuck in the mud, with quarterback Rocco Becht struggling for the second big game in a row. 

It’s very early days in Happy Valley, but no one can say with a straight face that they love what they’ve seen so far out of Matt Campbell and this group. The Nittany Lions need to make big strides across the board to save the season. 

College Football Week 5 gave us another reminder not to get too comfortable with anything we thought we knew in September.

We start with Missouri’s emphatic win over Florida and what it means for both teams after a month of wildly shifting expectations. Then we get into Alabama’s dominant performance against Mississippi State, another ridiculous day from Keelon Russell, Ohio State handling Iowa, and Northwestern’s statement win over Penn State in the debut of its new stadium.

From there, we run through the rest of a strange Saturday: Notre Dame finding something on the ground, Minnesota taking back the Little Brown Jug, Florida State showing signs of life, Wake Forest pouring it on, USC surviving Washington, Kentucky winning a thriller, and one of the strangest in-game coaching changes we can remember.

Plus, Reverbs, Dude Alerts and the increasingly challenging task of putting together our AP Top 25 ballot after five weeks of college football.

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