Whose NHL draft stock rose, declined at the scouting combine?
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Rachel Doerrie
The 2025 NHL scouting combine took place in Buffalo this past weekend — with a little spin to it. The decentralized draft — with team personnel at their own headquarters — means execs will not have opportunities to take prospects to dinner during draft week, meet their families and get one more evaluation done prior to draft night. So along with dinners, the typical fitness testing and interview process took place in Buffalo.
The scouting combine has changed dramatically over the last decade, since its centralization to Buffalo. Each team is given a suite on the executive level to set up their interviews. Players go from room to room, in 15-minute intervals — one player termed it the “interrogation gauntlet” a few years ago. This is the first time players will meet with team executives, as most teams have their general manager and the assistant GM that oversees the scouting department both present. Throughout the season, area scouts will interview prospects or send questionnaires. When teams select who they’d like to interview at the combine, having base knowledge of the player removes the need for small talk.
Usually, teams take three or four players out for dinner during draft week and will meet with several others of interest. Players are unlikely to be asked to dinner by teams who have no chance of taking them. No. 1-ranked prospect Matthew Schaefer isn’t going to dine with the Tampa Lightning, Edmonton Oilers or Colorado Avalanche, for instance, and frankly, probably doesn’t need to meet with anyone besides the New York Islanders and San Jose Sharks, picking first and second.
For players like James Hagens or Porter Martone, they may have four to five meals with teams in the range to select them. For what it’s worth, the Isles took Schaefer, Michael Misa and Hagens to dinner during combine week. Had the draft been centralized, it is likely they would have met again over a meal in Los Angeles, along with their families.
More interesting, Chicago, who owns the third overall pick, did not take anyone to dinner. Given the decentralized draft, that is certainly a calculated decision from their brass. Perhaps they plan to invite players to Chicago, fly to the hometowns of players of interest, or fly to Los Angeles during draft week? No one knows, but their strategy caused some conversation among other teams’ personnel. The Philadelphia Flyers famously avoided taking Jett Luchanko to dinner last season before drafting him, so as to not raise alarm bells with other teams. Perhaps Chicago is taking a page out of that book.
Hagens also dined with the Utah Mammoth (picking fourth) and interviewed with 16 teams overall — a wide range for a player expected to go very early. If Hagens falls out of the Top 5, you may see a team trade up to grab him because he becomes a value pick after third overall. Utah also had dinner meetings with Jake O’Brien and Brady Martin, though it is believed their 4th overall pick could be available for the right price in trade.
If Hagens is there at No. 4, and we believe he will be, there are a few people who think the Isles will make a play for that pick; one rumored deal would include multiple early-round picks. After all, Hagens did say his dream is win a Stanley Cup with the Islanders.
The Flyers cast a wide net including O’Brien, Martin and Porter Martone. It is no secret the Flyers need a center, and they are certainly in a position to draft one with the No. 6 pick. Notably, Martone is a winger, but he’s big and has some pest qualities to his game, which would interest the Flyers. The Flyers met with quite a few goalies at the combine, and given their uncertainty in goal, is it easy to see why they would have interest in Joshua Ravensbergen, Jack Ivankovic, Alexei Medvedev and Semyon Frolov. With three first-round picks — they also have the Avs’ pick at No. 22 and the Oilers’ at either No. 31 or 32 — it’s not hard to imagine a scenario where the Flyers take the goalie they covet.
The Canucks took Braden Cootes to dinner and are believed to have done significant due diligence on Roger McQueen. Their organizational need for a center is well documented, but given the absence of GM Patrik Allvin at the combine, which raised a lot of eyebrows, many believe the 15th overall pick will be used in a trade to acquire immediate help at the center position. Similarly, there is belief that the Columbus Blue Jackets are looking to move some of their draft capital for immediate help.
Brady Martin has built a hype train that is full steam ahead. While he’s likely the 12th-15th best player available, Sam Bennett‘s playoff performance has impacted Martin’s stock. The farm boy who will miss the draft because there is work to be done is now rumored to go as high as No. 4 in the draft. When asked by reporters who he models his game after, he chose Bennett, Matthew Knies and Tom Wilson.
The prevailing belief is that he won’t get past Boston at 7th overall, meaning the likes of Martone, O’Brien and McQueen could be available much later than anticipated. Some scouts love his raw potential given that he’s more farm strength than hockey strength, and some see his potential as a second-line pest type. If a team truly believes he can be the next Sam Bennett, there is an argument to take him in the top 10, but there are many cautionary tales of passing on players with higher ceilings while drafting for a certain type of player.
There were some fun interview tidbits to come out of the combine too. The Pittsburgh Penguins used video in their meetings, a Kyle Dubas special. The team had clips of each player and played them back slowly, quizzing the player on what happened next, why they made a certain decision and what they saw on the play. In speaking to people who were part of the combine process during Dubas’ time with the Leafs, he does this to get a feeling for a player’s ability to read the game, as well as their belief in themselves when pressed about a decision they made on a particular play.
The Ottawa Senators asked players to tell a joke — a lighthearted way of finding out who can think on their feet or who may be a jokester in the locker room. Known for their somewhat strange questions, the Montreal Canadiens asked players what they would do if they were stranded in the desert with another person, a bottle of water and a baseball bat — and the other person took the water which could not be shared. Other questions from teams included what animal a player thinks they’d be.
The consensus from the interviews was that Anton Frondell, Caleb Desnoyers and Martin really impressed NHL executives. They were engaging in conversation, and teams took note of that. That will certainly help all three. Desnoyers has steadily climbed draft boards, but didn’t take part in testing due to a Memorial Cup campaign that prevented him from recovering from wrist injuries.
Speaking of injury, all eyes were on Roger McQueen during fitness testing. There is significant concern about his back and the possibility it could be a recurring issue, though it was a fracture, not a muscular injury. One executive said he’d be in the conversation for second overall if injury concerns weren’t a factor. Instead, McQueen could find himself available through the early teens. He completed the combine testing without issue, told teams he felt 100% healthy, and ripped off nine pull-ups during the combine, and nearly hit a 10th. Given the back muscles associated with that test, McQueen’s performance is believed to have quelled some of the concerns.
Will Horcoff showed off high-quality explosiveness, setting the combine record for standing long jump, and finished first in the no-arm vertical. While it isn’t a test of his skating explosiveness, those scores are a sign of his muscular makeup and his potential to be an explosive skater in the NHL. He was already climbing draft boards, and the son of Shawn Horcoff did himself quite a few favors with his fitness testing and interviews.
Questions about Anton Frondell’s fitness seemed to linger among scouts through the season, and he all but shut those down, with the best performance on the VO2 Max test, along with Cole Reschny.
Mason West, the dual sport dynamo from Minnesota declared that he was choosing hockey. The high school quarterback measured 6-6.25 tall, and is considered to be one of the more interesting prospects in the draft. Generally speaking, multi-sport athletes are more successful when they finally specialize because their athleticism is not built around one sport. They are likely to have better coordination, better reaction skills and be functionally stronger. Given West’s size and raw talent, he is someone to watch very early on Day 2 of the draft.
Outside of the typical combine testing, the decentralization added another twist. The draft floor is where a lot of trades and chatter occur. That won’t happen this year, and the overwhelming feeling is that a lot of those discussions took place at the combine — given it is the only opportunity for the GMs to be in the same city prior to the draft. That made Patrik Allvin’s absence all the more eyebrow-raising given the Canucks’ stated goal of acquiring a center, and the potential of some serious trade fireworks out of the offices of Rogers Arena.
Not only were many GMs present, but all of the major agents were also present. A who’s who of the hockey world descended on Buffalo, and the prevailing feeling was that a lot of groundwork was laid on potential trades and free agent signings (despite tampering rules) over the last week.
One thing is for sure; we have entered silly season, and first-round draft picks are unlikely to be the only major chess moves in the coming weeks.
The first full month of the 2025 college football season is officially in the books, and some of the nation’s biggest early-season surprises were once again on display across a thrilling Week 5 slate.
At Ole Miss, Ferris State transfer Trinidad Chambliss eclipsed 300 passing yards for a third consecutive start to help the Rebels slay LSU. After dismantling Illinois in Week 4, Indiana and Georgia Tech, which gained a win in overtime over Wake Forest, escaped trap games to their respective surprise places in the College Football Playoff race. Fellow CFP contenders Missouri, Tennessee, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt continued their scorching starts and others — LSU, Florida State, TCU and USC among them — stumbled.
The weekend’s pair of highly anticipated prime-time matchups delivered too. Despite a leaky run defense, Alabama notched its latest win over Georgia on the road Saturday night. Meanwhile Oregon sealed perhaps the biggest win of any program this season in an overtime victory at Penn State behind the play of first-year starter Dante Moore, “the best quarterback in college football,” according to Ducks coach Dan Lanning.
Here’s our take on this week’s Top 25 with insight from ESPN’s college football experts on the biggest surprises across the sport so far this fall. — Eli Lederman
Previous ranking: 1
Is this year’s Ohio State defense even better than last year’s? Through four games, the Buckeyes have been absolutely dominant defensively, including in Saturday’s 24-6 victory at Washington. Ohio State has given up just 22 points total this year, for a ridiculous average of only 5.5 points per game. Last year, with a senior-laden unit, the Buckeyes boasted the No. 1 ranked defense statistically on the way to winning the national championship. Yet with eight new starters — and new coordinator Matt Patricia — this Ohio State defense, so far, is matching, if not exceeding, the play of last year’s unit. New starters, notably linebacker Arvell Reese, have emerged to flank star returners Sonny Styles and Caleb Downs. The Buckeyes are shutting down the run, getting pressure on the quarterback and blanketing receivers downfield. Even after losing so many key players to the NFL, this defense is already looking championship-caliber again. — Jake Trotter
Previous ranking: 3
Ducks coach Dan Lanning proudly said Saturday night that he has the best quarterback in college football. It’s hard to blame him for thinking that way after watching Dante Moore play with unbelievable poise in front of more than 110,000 in Oregon’s thrilling 30-24 double-overtime victory at then No. 3 Penn State. The former No. 2 recruit only has 10 starts under his belt between his time at UCLA and Oregon, but he had all the right answers in high-pressure moments against an excellent Nittany Lion defense, leading two overtime touchdown drives and going 5-for-7 on fourth downs. Performances like these show he’s ready to be a serious contender in the Heisman Trophy race, and they generate a lot of belief that this Ducks team has the goods to chase a national championship. — Max Olson
Previous ranking: 2
It is hard to call Rueben Bain Jr. a surprise considering he was the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2023. But his play opposite Akheem Mesidor has been a revelation for the undefeated Hurricanes. Bain and Mesidor have become one of the top pass-rushing duos in the country, and their play has had a direct impact on each game the Hurricanes have played this year. Both have 19 pressures, and their pass rush win rate ranks them both in the top six nationally. Miami also ranks No. 13 in the nation in rush defense. First-year coordinator Corey Hetherman has completely revamped a weakness into a strength — one Miami will continue to rely on as the season progresses. — Andrea Adelson
Previous ranking: 11
Nothing can derail your season faster than a quarterback injury, but since Austin Simmons got hurt for Ole Miss, Ferris State transfer Trinidad Chambliss has stepped in and delivered three consecutive 300-yard passing games and three wins. He has thrown for 974 yards and four touchdowns in his starts while rushing for 245 yards and two more scores, and the Rebels have not only survived Simmons’ injury, but thrived. In Saturday’s 24-19 win over LSU, Chambliss completed passes to nine different receivers and finished with 314 passing yards and 71 rushing yards. Ole Miss nearly doubled the Tigers’ total yardage (480-254) but needed a late fourth-down conversion to ice the win and remain unbeaten. Chambliss threw a strike to Dae’Quan Wright, and that was that. — Bill Connelly
Previous ranking: 9
Mike Elko challenged Aggies to get over the program’s past disappointments during their bye week after beating Notre Dame, telling fans to “Stop being scared and get excited about what this program is doing.” A&M looked different on Saturday in a rugged 16-10 win over Auburn in which the Aggies committed 13 penalties and didn’t throw a touchdown pass. But it didn’t matter: The A&M defense held Auburn to 1 yard in the fourth quarter, 176 total for the game, 0-for-13 on third down, sacked Jackson Arnold five times and put up 243 rushing yards (on 5.6 yards per carry) against the SEC’s top run defense. Elko and the Aggies aren’t worried about lofty expectations and they’ll start October with scrappy Mississippi State, one of those teams that has tripped A&M up in recent years, going 6-5 against it since 2014. — Dave Wilson
Previous ranking: 8
The Sooners, on a bye in Week 5, have been one of college football’s early-season surprises. From an offensive question mark with its coach (Brent Venables) on the hot seat in August, Oklahoma closes September as a bona fide playoff contender. But it would have been difficult to imagine that the Sooners would be here at this stage of the fall with hardly any on-field contribution from running back Jaydn Ott. The spring portal transfer from Cal was expected to bring an extra dimension to the program’s offense alongside transfer quarterback John Mateer. Instead, hampered by injury, an inability to break into the backfield rotation or both, Ott has been effectively dormant, with only nine carries for 17 yards through four games. Perhaps Ott will benefit from the week off and return to a familiar form over the next two months. Oklahoma’s 101st-ranked run game could certainly use the jolt, especially with rushing leader Mateer sidelined for at least a few weeks. — Lederman
Previous ranking: 10
The early surprise might be Indiana returning to the CFP race after a historic 2024 season, although coach Curt Cignetti and his players expected to be back here. IU got through a potential letdown game at Iowa, overcoming mistakes and several difficult moments to strike last with Fernando Mendoza‘s 49-yard touchdown pass to Elijah Sarratt with 1:28 to play. Mendoza and Sarratt aren’t necessarily surprises, and much of Indiana’s offensive production so far has come from familiar sources. The defense has seen some breakout performances, including safety Louis Moore, who returned to Indiana, won his eligibility lawsuit this week and then recorded his team-leading third interception as the Hoosiers turned away Iowa midway through the fourth quarter. Moore, who leads IU with 30 tackles, junior linebacker Isaiah Jones and senior defensive lineman Kellan Wyatt, a transfer from Maryland have headlined a defense that has allowed only 48 points through the first five games. — Adam Rittenberg
Previous ranking: 5
With a veteran quarterback in Drew Allar and one of the best running back duos in the country in Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen returning, Penn State was supposed to boast a potent offensive attack. Instead, the Nittany Lions have lagged offensively, most glaringly in the 30-24 double-overtime loss to Oregon. Allar and the offense finally came alive in the fourth quarter, rallying from a 17-3 deficit to send the game into overtime. But for much of the night, the offense was dreadful. Penn State’s 69 total yards in the first half were the fewest at home since James Franklin became coach in 2014. Penn State’s 3 first-half points were its least at home since 2016. And Allar’s 45 passing yards in the first half were the lowest total of his career. Allar now ranks 85th nationally in QBR (48.4) and the Nittany Lions rank just 52nd with 180 rushing yards per game. With so much experience, coordinator Andy Kotelnicki’s offense was supposed to be among college football’s best. Instead, it has been an underwhelming disappointment. — Trotter
Previous ranking: 12
The Red Raiders had a bye week coming off a 34-10 win over then No. 16 Utah, their fourth straight by at least 24 points. They are outscoring opponents by an average of 52-to-11 per game. Now at their highest ranking since 2013, the Red Raiders will meet 4-0 Houston for the first time as conference foes since the Southwest Conference broke up. Quarterback Behren Morton, who was injured in the Utah game and replaced by Will Hammond, is expected to return. But the Red Raiders were comforted by the performance of the sophomore backup, as Hammond went 13-of-16 for 169 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. — Wilson
Previous ranking: 16
The Crimson Tide beat Georgia 24-21 to end the Bulldogs’ 33-game home winning streak, but they continued an alarming trend to start the season: Their run defense continues to struggle against elite competition. In their two Top 25 games so far this season, Alabama has allowed over 200 yards to both Florida State and Georgia for a combined 457 yards on the ground. Not having Tim Keenan III certainly had an impact on that in Week 1, and coach Kalen DeBoer said his presence helped Saturday against the Bulldogs. But the fact is Alabama has not been as good in this area as usual, and it is a spot where it will have to get better to compete for a championship. — Adelson
Previous ranking: 6
Perhaps the biggest surprise is the secondary has not played up to the Kirby Smart standard. Against Tennessee, that group gave up one big play after another, and the same happened Saturday in a 24-21 loss to Alabama — particularly in the first half. Ty Simpson found open receivers all night and made clutch third-down conversions. Nine of Alabama’s 13 third-down conversions came on passes. Georgia coach Kirby Smart lamented the poor performance on third-down defense after the game. While Georgia was better in the second half, Alabama raced to a big enough halftime lead to hold on and win. — Adelson
Previous ranking: 13
The Longhorns, who had a bye this week before heading to Florida to enter SEC play, are a bit of a mystery. Arch Manning ranks 76th nationally in passing with 888 yards, and the offense is still looking to find a groove. Maybe Sept. 20’s 55-0 romp over Sam Houston exorcised some of those struggles and the Longhorn offense has found some confidence. But while they figure that out, the defense is allowing just 7.8 points per game (second-best nationally) and 212 yards per game (4th) and will give them a shot in every game. Steve Sarkisian, who says Manning’s legs (he has five rushing TDs this year) might play a bigger part in the offense down the stretch, has prided himself on a balanced offense the past two seasons. With four new offensive linemen, that has taken time to sort out this year. What will these Horns look like next week? Stay tuned. — Wilson
Previous ranking: 14
After catching 29 passes for 333 yards in his first year with Tennessee, Chris Brazzell II has already topped that mark, catching 31 balls for 531 yards and seven touchdowns in the first five games of 2025. Brazzell taking a nice step forward wasn’t necessarily surprising, but he has enjoyed a total star turn. He had six catches for 105 yards and a touchdown against Mississippi State, and his fourth-down reception with five minutes left set up a late tying touchdown. The Vols eventually prevailed in overtime, 41-34. Brazzell’s heroics — and those of quarterback Joey Aguilar, of course — have been a necessity because the Tennessee defense has not clicked thus far in 2025. The Vols allowed 16.1 points per game in 2024, but after Saturday they’re allowing 29.0 points per game in 2025. That’s also quite a surprise. — Connelly
Previous ranking: 7
You would think after enduring the 2024 season, FSU wouldn’t care much about the outside noise, but QB Tommy Castellanos admitted after a double-overtime loss at Virginia that the Noles probably read a few too many headlines proclaiming how good they were. The result was a brutal first quarter in which FSU fell behind 14-0 and, ultimately, a stunning loss to the Hoos. Castellanos’ advice to his teammates after? “Eat it and move on.” For as much criticism as he received after a brutal 2024 at Boston College, Castellanos has blossomed into an elite leader for FSU, and the Week 5 loss certainly couldn’t be put on his shoulders. He delivered a dagger to Randy Pittman Jr. to send the game to OT, and he put a pass on the money to Duce Robinson in the end zone that the star receiver bobbled before stepping out of bounds. Castellanos and Mike Norvell both insist they won’t allow Florida State to go into a tailspin after the loss — and unlike last year, there’s reason to believe them. — David Hale
Previous ranking: 15
How’s this for surprising: Against Arizona on Saturday, Iowa State quarterback Rocco Becht finished with minus-10 rushing yards on nine carries, didn’t throw a touchdown pass and threw an interception, but it was still his best performance of the season. That’s because he still ran for three scores, completed 14 of 20 passes for 243 yards (QBR 94.6) and led the Cyclones to their most comprehensive win of the season (adjusting for opponent difficulty). This was the type of game ISU fans had been waiting for all season. — Kyle Bonagura
Previous ranking: 17
Maybe we didn’t expect the Tigers to be averaging 292 rushing yards per game, but this was certainly conceivable after Missouri — which rolled over UMass to improve to 5-0 Saturday night — added hard-running transfers Beau Pribula and Ahmad Hardy. Less foreseeable? An overwhelming Tigers front seven that began Week 5 ranked 12th nationally in run defense (73.3 yards per game) and 14th in pressure rate (34.7%). Key returners, like defensive end Zion Young and Chris McClellan, and transfers Damon Wilson II (Georgia) and Josiah Trotter (West Virginia) are a big part of the leap for a unit that finished in the bottom half of the SEC in rushing yards and sacks a year ago. A proper dive into league play with matchups against Alabama, Auburn, Vanderbilt and Texas A&M up ahead will offer a full gauge of just how much of a difference-maker Missouri’s defensive front can be this fall. — Lederman
Previous ranking: 4
The biggest surprise of the early season for LSU might simply be that the passing game hasn’t been nearly as good as it was supposed to be. After finishing 10th in Total QBR last year, Garrett Nussmeier entered Saturday’s game against Ole Miss ranked 33rd, and he struggled mightily in Oxford. He finished the afternoon 21-for-34 for 197 yards, a touchdown, an interception and a sack, and the Tigers gained just 254 yards thanks in part to prolonged run game troubles. Nussmeier struggled with accuracy, and LSU went just 2-for-11 on third downs, but thanks to a couple late bursts — two field goals and a touchdown on its final three drives — the Tigers were able to hang in there. But a late fourth down conversion allowed Ole Miss to run out the clock and prevent Nussmeier from getting one last chance at a heroic comeback. — Connelly
Previous ranking: 20
Quarterback Diego Pavia is the show at Vanderbilt, and arguably the most valuable player in all of college football after accounting for six touchdowns (five passing, one rushing) in Saturday’s 55-35 win over Utah State. But he’s not the only reason why the Commodores are 5-0 for the first time since 2008 and for just the second time in the past 80 seasons. Vanderbilt scored 50 points in consecutive games for the first time since 1915, getting nice boosts from wide receivers Junior Sherrill (6 receptions, 91 yards, 3 touchdowns — all in the first half) and Tre Richardson (six receptions, 74 yards), and running back Jamezell Lassiter, who had a 48-yard run and 63 yards on only four carries. Led by Pavia, Vanderbilt is playing with tremendous confidence, especially on offense, and now enters a season-defining stretch against Alabama (road), LSU (home), Missouri (home) and Texas (road). — Rittenberg
Previous ranking: 18
The rep for the Yellow Jackets under Brent Key has been pretty simple — they win games they have no business winning and they lose games against teams they’re far more talented than. So, what happened in Week 5 when undefeated Tech traveled to Wake Forest? Of course it tried its darnedest to blow it. The Jackets fell behind 20-3 but rallied back and, thanks to a blown call by the ACC officials, escaped Wake Forest in double overtime. Is it a performance to be proud of? Certainly not. But in years past, Georgia Tech loses those games, so it’s still progress. Saturday’s win was sparked, in part, by another strong day from receiver Isiah Canion, who has blossomed this season with 15 catches and a team-high 237 yards, 70 of which came against the Deacons. — Hale
Previous ranking: 19
The Wolverines’ first bye week hit at an ideal time with Sherrone Moore returning from his two-game suspension and a five-game stretch of Big Ten battles ahead. One pleasant surprise early on has been Alabama transfer Justice Haynes performing at an All-America level with four consecutive 100-yard performances to start the year. The Wolverines have a clear identity on offense around rising freshman QB Bryce Underwood with a top-10 rushing offense in yards per game and yards per rush after finishing outside the top 70 nationally in both categories in 2024. — Olson
Previous ranking: 23
Yes, the defense has been iffy so far. But who needs defense when your offense is putting up 56 points and 643 yards? And it’s not as if Irish fans weren’t excited about their new QB, CJ Carr, but there were obvious question marks about him entering the season. How would a guy with no prior experience handle the spotlight that comes with being QB1 in South Bend? The answer has been emphatic. Carr threw for 354 yards and four touchdowns in the win over Arkansas on Saturday, and his 88.4 Total QBR ranks fifth among Power 4 passers so far. After an 0-2 start, things are looking brighter for the Irish now, and Carr is a big reason for optimism that this season is still salvageable. — Hale
Previous ranking: NR
When BYU found itself down 14-0 to Colorado on Saturday, it was asking a lot for a true freshman quarterback to guide the Cougars back. But that’s what Bear Bachmeier did as BYU came back to win 24-21. After a relatively easy schedule to start the season, the difficulty level is about to get turned up. BYU has Utah, Iowa State, Texas Tech and TCU all on the back half of the schedule. To this point, the offense has been good enough to win, but it will need to improve significantly for the Cougars to make a serious run at the Big 12 title game. — Bonagura
Previous ranking: 24
The Illini knew what they had in senior quarterback Luke Altmyer, who threw two touchdown passes, rushed for one and even caught one in Saturday’s crucial 34-32 home win over USC. But Illinois wanted to surround Altmyer with greater explosiveness at wide receiver and running back. Offensive coordinator Barry Lunney Jr. sought a better downfield game, and he got it in the USC win as Kaden Feagin and Collin Dixon both had receptions of 60 yards or longer, and Altmyer averaged 15.8 yards per completion in the win. Sophomore running back Ca’Lil Valentine averaged 7.4 rushing yards on eight carries. Wide receiver Hank Beatty already had established himself as a big-play threat, entering Saturday averaging 14.4 yards per catch, but Dixon and others give Illinois an element it lacked during a 10-win season in 2024. — Rittenberg
Previous ranking: NR
Coach Ryan Silverfield brandished a reputation for high-flying offenses across his first six seasons at Memphis. But seldom, if ever, have his teams run the football like the Tigers are in 2025, highlighted by Memphis’ 291-yard, five-touchdown rushing performance in a 55-26 conference-opening win over Florida Atlantic Saturday night. Fifth-year running back Greg Desrosiers Jr. led the charge in Week 5, tearing off a 90-yard score in a career-high 19-carry, 204-yard breakout showing. Former Colorado and Nevada quarterback Brendon Lewis (six rushing scores in 2025) has injected energy into the unbeaten Tigers’ running game, too. Memphis has eclipsed 200 rushing yards in each of its five games this campaign — the Tigers’ fifth 200-yard ground effort came in Week 10 last year — and Memphis’ 41 attempts per game thus far would easily mark the highest run rate in any of Silverfield’s seven seasons in charge. Could this fresh, ground-based attack be the element that helps lift Silverfield and the Tigers into the playoff later this year? — Lederman
Previous ranking: NR
The Cardinals pulled off quite a surprise on Saturday, rallying back from a 17-0 deficit on the road to beat Pitt 34-27. Miller Moss threw for 339 yards and three TDs and got plenty of help from a defense that nabbed five takeaways, got nine third-down stops and pitched a second-half shutout. Considering Pitt hadn’t blown a 17-point lead in a conference game since 2009, that’s quite a feat. The Cardinals are 4-0 for the second time in three years under coach Jeff Brohm and have a big opportunity, with Virginia and Miami up next, to prove they’re a contender in the ACC title race. — Olson
Week 5’s slate of games did not disappoint as ranked matchups went down to the wire, and four of last week’s AP poll top-10 teams fell to their opponents.
LSU showed that it can’t seem to show out on both sides of the ball. It was a tough week for James Franklin and the Nittany Lions as they fell to yet another top-10 opponent, while Oregon coach Dan Lanning is saying that the Ducks’ Dante Moore is “the best quarterback in college football.” And Virginia, which upset then-No. 8 Florida State, now begins the task of showing that was no fluke.
What do LSU and quarterback Garrett Nussmeier need to improve on going forward? What has Moore done through Week 5 for his coach to be making such a big claim? What’s ahead for Tony Elliott and the Cavaliers?
Our college football experts break down key takeaways from Week 5 performances.
Jump to:
LSU falls short | Dante Moore delivers
Virginia’s win no fluke
Kiffin, Lanning approach | Same old USC
LSU can’t put it all together
LSU coach Brian Kelly has a much-improved defense, one he said is capable of competing at a championship-caliber level. But so far, he hasn’t had the offense to go with it. And when the offense has found a groove, the defense has given up a big play — maybe because it’s exhausted. Kelly snapped at a reporter who questioned his offense after a 20-10 win against Florida, but there was no sugarcoating the Tigers’ ineptitude in Saturday’s 24-19 loss at Ole Miss.
“You start with the first half, where our inability to sustain anything on the offensive side of the ball put our defense on the field for over 50 plays,” Kelly said. “At the end of the day, when you put it all together for four quarters, we didn’t play complementary football. … We were out of sync with that.”
Quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, who entered this season as a projected first-round NFL draft pick, didn’t play like one. He was often off-target and made some bad decisions, throwing into coverage. The Tigers couldn’t run the ball. They’re banged up and young on the offensive line. This was a team that — according to Kelly’s summer declaration — should be a contender for the national title. But the performance in the loss to the Rebels indicated it might not be built to contend for the SEC title. — Heather Dinich
This college football season was supposedly loaded with future NFL starting quarterbacks: Texas’ Arch Manning. Clemson’s Cade Klubnik. South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers. LSU’s Garrett Nussmeier. Penn State’s Drew Allar, just to name a few.
But through the quarter pole of the regular season, Oregon sophomore Dante Moore has impressed as much as any quarterback in the country in his first season as the starter.
On Saturday night, in front of a hostile White Out crowd at Penn State’s Beaver Stadium, Moore completed 29 of 39 passes for 248 yards and 3 touchdowns — without an interception.
But more impressive than the numbers, Moore showed immense poise. He hung tough in the pocket, calmly went through his progressions and delivered the ball accurately.
Moore also helped Oregon weather Penn State’s furious fourth-quarter comeback. After two straight touchdown drives sent the game to overtime, the Nittany Lions had all the momentum, especially after they opened the first overtime with another touchdown in three plays.
But Moore answered with a series of clutch plays to send the game to a second overtime. Then, on the ensuing snap, he threw a touchdown strike to Gary Bryant Jr. that proved to be the winner.
Oregon coach Dan Lanning said afterward that he believes the Ducks have the best quarterback in the country. Based on the way Moore is playing, Lanning might not be wrong. — Jake Trotter
Virginia’s win over Florida State no fluke
Tony Elliott and Virginia have endured more than any other program in the country since his arrival in 2022. That is what made its 46-38 double-overtime win over No. 8 Florida State on Friday night even more special.
Ten games into Year 1 under Elliott, Virginia players Lavel Davis Jr., Devin Chandler and D’Sean Perry were shot and killed after returning to campus from a class trip to Washington, D.C. The final two games of that season were canceled, and the weight of that trauma is something that never goes away.
On the field, Virginia struggled but showed flashes — wins against Top 25 teams in 2023 and 2024 — the steady drumbeat of progress sometimes hard for those outside of the program to see because the results had yet to get Virginia to a bowl game. Headed into this season, Elliott was given the chance to truly compete.
With a new football facility complete, Virginia made a massive investment in NIL and revenue share, allowing the Cavaliers to use the transfer portal in a far more meaningful way. They upgraded at nearly every key position — from quarterback Chandler Morris to running back J’Mari Taylor to receiver Cam Ross to defensive ends Mitchell Melton and Daniel Rickert — raising expectations for this season.
When Morris arrived in January, he said, “I didn’t come all the way to Virginia as a Texas boy to win five, six games. I want to win the conference championship.”
Those expectations have now ratcheted up further after the win over Florida State. ESPN FPI gives Virginia a 14.1% chance to win the ACC, the second-highest odds in the league behind Miami. When asked to reflect on the journey to get to this point after the game, Elliott specifically mentioned Davis, Chandler and Perry.
“I know what I signed up for,” Elliott said. “But for me, it’s really about the Davis family, the Chandler family, the Perry family, the coaches in that locker room, the staff, the players and just trying to be a model of that belief. There have been days that I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but as soon as I walk in the office and I see one of their faces, it reminds me why we’re here.
“I came here because I believe Virginia can be one of the premier football programs in the country to go alongside with being one of the premier academic schools. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and I didn’t know what adversity we were going to walk into, but here’s what I do know — adversity is a companion to a champion, an enemy to the weak. We had to embrace the adversity.”
There also is needed perspective. Virginia is 1-0, with a road game against undefeated Louisville next.
“We wanted to be in the driver’s seat and that’s all we did was keep ourselves in the driver’s seat,” Elliott said. “We’ve got to keep two hands on the wheel, put the seat belt on, make sure that we check the rearview mirror, make sure we’re awake so we don’t hit a pothole along the way.” — Andrea Adelson
Why aggressiveness is the only approach for Lanning, Kiffin
Oregon’s Dan Lanning and Ole Miss’ Lane Kiffin are on the short list of best coaches never to have won a national title (both have been part of championship teams as assistants). Whether either raises a trophy Jan. 19 in South Florida remains to be seen. Oregon might be a year away, with all of its youth, and Ole Miss likely had a more talented team in 2024, only to fall short of its first CFP appearance.
But Lanning and Kiffin have given themselves — and their teams — a chance at making history. And they’ve done so by being themselves — bold, aggressive and fearless in key situations. Oregon led Penn State 10-3 early in the fourth quarter and faced fourth-and-1 at the Nittany Lions’ 8-yard line. Rather than take a two-score lead against an opponent that had looked completely feeble on offense to that point, Lanning went for the touchdown, and Jordon Davison scooted into the end zone.
I have seen very few coaches go for the win like Lanning did in State College. Oregon needed the two-touchdown cushion as Penn State rallied to force overtime, but Lanning’s decision reinforced his belief in his team. The Ducks won in OT, giving Lanning arguably the best win of his young coaching career. Lanning’s boldness came back to hurt him early in his tenure, especially in losses to Washington, but the approach is unquestionably who he is, and he shouldn’t deviate from it.
Kiffin also stayed true to himself with Ole Miss protecting a 24-19 lead against LSU and facing fourth-and-3 at the Tigers’ 35-yard line. He trusted quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, a Division II transfer who has become one of the early stories of this season, to execute one final time, as Ole Miss gained 20 yards to secure the win.
Maybe Oregon and LSU lose if those conversions fail, but coaches like Lanning and Kiffin are at their best when playing pedal-down football. And it could lead them to the top this season. — Adam Rittenberg
Same old USC
When USC receiver Makai Lemon made yet another brilliant grab to put USC up 32-31 on Illinois with 1:55 left in the game, what happened next was very predictable. A pair of Illini fumbles bailed out USC to get to that point, but the Trojans had done almost nothing to slow down Illinois’ offense all game. So, when Illinois took over, it had no trouble bullying the USC front on the ground to get into field goal range for the walk-off win. This is who the Trojans are: a team that can occasionally excite, but ultimately still soft and devoid of winning DNA.
This was USC’s first real test of the season and, like it has so often over the past three years, it failed. USC should benefit as much as anyone in the NIL era, but instead, it continues to tread in mediocrity. — Kyle Bonagura
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Bill Connelly
Oregon and Penn State went to overtime. Alabama and Georgia nearly did. Tennessee went to overtime for a second time in three weeks. Illinois watched a two-score lead vanish against unbeaten USC and then won anyway. Georgia Tech pulled off a magic act to avoid an upset in Wake Forest.
What looked to be a great Friday night was one of the best Friday nights in memory, with Virginia pulling off a stirring overtime upset of Florida State, Arizona State unearthing some more close-game magic and Houston coming back to win in overtime in Corvallis. Indiana survived Iowa City. Cincinnati and Kansas put on a Big 12 track meet. Central Washington scored 91 points!
There aren’t many things in the world better than a huge college football Saturday that lives up to its hype. We had been looking forward to Week 5 since the preseason, and it delivered. So instead of compiling a “My Favorite Games of the Week” list at the bottom of this week’s recap column, we’re going to build the whole column out of My Favorite Games!
With Florida State facing its first road test of the season and TCU and Arizona State facing off in a key Big 12 battle, Friday night looked like it was going to be awesome. It was more than that. Arizona State and TCU went down to the wire, Houston-Oregon State was surprisingly awesome, and the game between YAC kings in Charlottesville exceeded all expectations.
Thanks in part to an early fumble from FSU’s Gavin Sawchuk and an acrobatic red zone interception from UVA’s Ja’son Prevard, Virginia led 14-0 early in the second quarter. When FSU scored on three straight drives, however, this game looked as if it would belong to the “Underdog lands some shots early, then fades” category. We see a lot of those games.
Virginia just kept responding, however. J’Mari Taylor tied the game at 21-21 before halftime, Chandler Morris scored his second rushing touchdown, and Morris threw a go-ahead TD to Xavier Brown with 7:20 left. FSU sent the game to overtime with a fourth-and-goal touchdown pass from Tommy Castellanos to Randy Pittman Jr. with 36 seconds left; I was surprised FSU didn’t go for two points and the win, but perhaps coach Mike Norvell simply trusted that his offense was more likely to keep scoring. Nope! The Seminoles didn’t net a single first down in two overtime possessions. First, both teams settled for field goals. Then Morris scored again and hit Trell Harris for the 2-point conversion. Prevard picked off Castellanos’ desperation heave, and one of the most rapid field-stormings you’ll ever see followed.
0:49
Fans rush the field after UVA upsets No. 8 FSU
Florida State is unable to convert on fourth down in double overtime against Virginia, and fans storm the field.
I’m not going to lie: That was both exhilarating and terrifying to watch. But it had been quite a while since Cavaliers fans got to celebrate such a win — their last home victory over a top-10 team was in 2005. That win was also against Florida State. And in a fun nod to history, the Cavaliers had also scored one of the great weeknight upsets of all time in 1995 against, yes, Florida State again. Thirty years later, they did it again.
The win was big because every fan base deserves moments like this. It was also big because it upended the ACC title race a bit. We head into October with Miami at the top of the pecking order, but lots of teams pretty close behind.
Current ACC title odds, per SP+
1. Miami 24.2%
2. Louisville 20.4%
3. Georgia Tech 10.3%
4. Virginia 10.2%
5. Duke 9.6%
6. Florida State 6.7%
7. SMU 5.1%
The winner of this coming Saturday’s Virginia-Louisville game is going to be awfully well-positioned to nab one of the slots in the ACC championship game. (Of course, knowing this conference’s history, we’ve got 26 more plot twists to go between now and then.)
There were six Big Ten games Saturday, and only one was decided before the final two minutes. I felt smart for suggesting in Friday’s preview that Washington might make Ohio State sweat for a while, but the Huskies’ challenge lasted only about 29 minutes in a 24-6 loss. Otherwise, however, every game was dynamite.
That included the night’s big headliner in Happy Valley, though it certainly took its time reaching a boil. In fact early in the fourth quarter it looked as if this would end up a blowout. After 47:35, Oregon led 17-3, having outgained Penn State by a 352-109 margin. (Yards per play to that point: 5.9 to 2.9.)
Out of nowhere, however, Drew Allar led two pristine touchdown drives, one quick and one languid; a lovely touchdown lob to Devonte Ross made it 17-10 Ducks, and a gorgeously designed pitch to Ross tied the game with 30 seconds left.
Penn State needed only three plays to score in overtime, and Oregon had to gut out a response, converting a fourth-and-1 and then scoring on a cluttered shovel pass up the middle to Jamari Johnson. Penn State still looked like the steadier team heading into the second OT, but two plays later, the game was over. Dante Moore connected with Gary Bryant Jr. for a 25-yard score, and Dillon Thieneman appeared out of nowhere to pick off an Allar sideline pass. That was that.
Oregon is the real deal. The Ducks are No. 1 in SP+ and are getting what they need out of virtually every new and former transfer they’ve had to call upon, from Moore and Bryant, to much of the offensive line, to guys such as Thieneman on defense. And their two best offensive players Saturday night might have been freshmen: running back Dierre Hill Jr. (94 yards from scrimmage) and receiver Dakorien Moore (seven catches for 89 yards). Dante Moore aced the biggest test of his collegiate career, and led by head coach Dan Lanning, who seems to adore coaching in games such as this, the Ducks have won 19 of their past 20 games.
The narrative following this one, of course, focused mostly on the losing team. I tend to hate narratives; they’re almost always lazy and oversimplified, and one of the major reasons I’ve pursued analytics as much as I have over my writing career is that I like shutting narratives down. That goes especially for the “can’t win the big one” trope. Tom Osborne couldn’t win the big one, nor could Bobby Bowden or Mack Brown. They couldn’t, and then they did. James Franklin wears the biggest, brightest “Can’t win the big one!” sign in the sport at the moment, and guess what: Of the 136 programs in FBS, at least 125 of them would trade places with Franklin’s Penn State in a heartbeat. Franklin has been undeniably awesome at his job for quite a while. Almost no team in the sport has proven to be more upset-proof. That the Nittany Lions lose only to awesome teams — and often by small margins — is a sign that they’re an awesome team.
However …
Many of Penn State’s recent losses to awesome teams have followed a very familiar script full of droughts, a lack of offensive ambition and a complete lack of faith in the quarterback. Andy Kotelnicki’s fourth-quarter playcalling was almost note-perfect — he has proven his playcalling chops for quite a while now — but it came after two straight quarters of ineffective nibbling. In last year’s CFP semifinal loss to Notre Dame, Penn State scored one TD in its first six drives, then carved down the field beautifully for two late touchdowns. In last year’s Big Ten championship game, the Nittany Lions scored one TD in their first four drives and fell behind 28-10 before finding a rhythm and surging back (only to fall short).
It’s great to hold something in reserve for when you need it, and that’s a clear part of the Penn State approach in big games. But it’s producing awfully similar results, and it’s impossible not to notice that in his seven losses as a starter, Allar has averaged just 171 passing yards per game with a 50% completion rate and a 61.1 Total QBR. (It’s also not hard to notice that in the past two games in which he had a chance to win the game on Penn State’s final drive, he threw almost immediate interceptions.)
If someone says someone “can’t win the big one,” my natural instinct is to roll my eyes and assume the tables will turn pretty soon. But it’s hard to maintain that faith, in either Allar or Penn State, at the moment, not when it feels as if we’re watching reruns.
I feel like the Big 12 should sue the SEC for copyright infringement. An utterly nutty conference title race, loaded with close games and unexpected plot twists, is supposed to be the Big 12’s domain. But with Texas Tech’s early 2025 star turn and high-quality, unbeaten starts for Iowa State and BYU, the Big 12 race is looking pretty straight forward at the moment. Following these two huge Saturday games, however, the SEC’s title race leaves September in a place of glorious disarray.
SEC title odds, per SP+
Ole Miss 16.3%
Missouri 12.9%
Oklahoma 11.1%
Alabama 11.1%
Vanderbilt 9.7%
Texas 8.5%
Tennessee 7.2%
Texas A&M 6.2%
Georgia 5.2%
LSU 5.2%
To put that another way, the six above teams that have won a national title in the past 25 years (Oklahoma, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee, Georgia and LSU) have a combined 48.3% chance of winning the SEC. The other four teams above — which have combined for a single outright conference title in the past 50 years (Texas A&M’s 1998 Big 12 crown) — are at 45.1%.
(Other teams have tiny chances that bring the total to 100%. And no, Oklahoma’s odds aren’t affected by quarterback John Mateer‘s recent hand injury.)
We basically have a 50-50 shot at a team enjoying its first conference title in a very long time.
Brilliant early play from Missouri and Vanderbilt has certainly juiced these odds in their favor a bit, and after last year’s No. 2 finish in SP+, we shouldn’t be all that surprised Ole Miss has a puncher’s shot at a conference crown. But I literally laughed out loud when I saw the list above. The SEC is in an incredibly strange place at the moment, and I’m here for it.
Saturday’s Alabama and Ole Miss wins certainly added to the chaotic vibe, and both came down to clutch late-down conversions. First, Ole Miss outgained LSU by a 480-254 margin and led by 10 at the half and 11 early in the fourth quarter. But the Rebels settled for a field goal in the first quarter and lost a fumble in the end zone in the second, allowing LSU to hang around, and Harlem Berry‘s touchdown with 5:04 left brought the Tigers within five points. When Ole Miss quarterback Trinidad Chambliss foolishly allowed himself to get pushed out of bounds on a third-down rush, stopping the clock with 1:47 left and bringing up a fourth down, it wasn’t hard to see the Tigers stealing this one. But Chambliss found Dae’Quan Wright for a picture-perfect 20-yard gain on fourth-and-3, and Ole Miss kneeled out the win.
On Saturday evening in Athens, Alabama did what it did early against Georgia last season but changed the script for how things played out late. The Crimson Tide scored on four of their five first-half possessions, racking up 262 yards and a 24-14 halftime lead. Ty Simpson was 11-for-16 for 132 yards, Bama was 5-for-8 on third downs (Georgia was 0-for-3), and everything was working.
And then, in the second half, a rock fight broke out. Bama almost seemed Penn State-esque, going ultra-conservative and saving any actually good offensive plays for when Georgia finally took the lead. Only, it never happened. The Dawgs got to within three points on the first drive of the third quarter, but they punted twice and failed on a fourth-and-1 from the Bama 8 with 13:20 left in the fourth quarter when LT Overton and Deontae Lawson stormed the backfield on a hurry-up snap and knocked Cash Jones off-balance for a 3-yard loss. Georgia never got another shot. Thanks to a 7-yard pass from Simpson to Jam Miller on third-and-5 with 1:51 left, Bama was also able to kneel out the win.
By the way, if you’re a fan of the transitive property, I do have to point out that Old Dominion beat Virginia Tech, which beat NC State, which beat Virginia, which beat Florida State, which beat Alabama, which beat Georgia. ODU for the CFP???
Tennessee let a potential upset of Georgia slip through its fingers two weeks ago and is still looking ahead at a schedule that includes trips to Alabama and Florida and visits from Oklahoma and surging Vanderbilt. This was not the time to suffer an upset against an upstart — we know from Ole Miss’ and Alabama’s 2024 experiences that untimely upset losses will doom you awfully quickly — but Mississippi State sure looked like it was going to finish the job early Saturday evening. Despite two defensive touchdowns for the Vols (and a yards-per-play advantage of 6.5 to 4.4 for UT), MSU took the lead on four separate occasions and held a 34-27 advantage midway through the fourth quarter with Tennessee forcing a fourth-and-4. But Joey Aguilar found star receiver Chris Brazzell II for a first down, and Aguilar took in a touchdown on the first play after the two-minute timeout.
Tennessee’s DeSean Bishop scored on the first play of overtime, then Arion Carter broke up a fourth-down pass from Blake Shapen to Anthony Evans III.
If the loose playoff goal for an SEC team is to reach 10-2, this comeback saved Tennessee’s bacon. The Vols still have a 40% chance of reaching 10-2 or better. That number would have been about 10% with a loss here.
Arizona State has won nine straight Big 12 games going back to last season, and four of them were decided by five or fewer points. The last two were decided by 27-24 scores.
This Friday night result seemed rather unlikely. TCU, unbeaten and confident, dominated on the way to a 17-0 lead late in the first half, and after the Sun Devils charged back to tie, Josh Hoover‘s 1-yard touchdown gave the Horned Frogs another lead that they held with two minutes left. But a pair of defensive penalties and a fourth-and-goal touchdown pass from Sam Leavitt to Jordyn Tyson tied the game. And then Prince Dorbah made maybe the best play of the entire weekend.
It’s DORBAH ‼️@prince_dorbah pic.twitter.com/fMN1TulfJt
— Sun Devil Football (@ASUFootball) September 27, 2025
Dorbah’s strip sack set up a go-ahead field goal for Jesus Gomez, and Martell Hughes‘ interception 25 seconds later clinched the win.
It was fair to assume that, with such an experienced squad, Illinois was going to respond with physicality and quality after last week’s humiliating loss to Indiana. The Illini ended up needing an extra reserve of resilience too.
They led 31-17 with 10 minutes left, but two Makai Lemon touchdowns (and a 2-point conversion from Lemon), combined with an Illinois fumble deep in Trojan territory, gave USC a sudden 32-31 lead with 1:55 remaining. With help from a pass interference penalty, though, Illinois was able to drive to the USC 24 in the closing seconds, and David Olano‘s 41-yard field goal saved the day.
After jumping out to a 14-0 lead against NC State but falling 34-24, Wake Forest came even closer to an upset Saturday. The Demon Deacons led 20-3 early in the second half and had a chance to close out a 23-20 upset with less than two minutes left. But Robby Ashford, thinking Tech had jumped offside on a third-and-5 and he had a free play, threw an incomplete deep ball, stopping the clock. No flag was thrown — the Tech defender was in the process of jumping back behind the line of scrimmage when the ball was snapped and came awfully close — and Wake was forced to punt. With the extra seconds, Tech drove for a field goal and picked off a 2-point pass in overtime to somehow keep its unbeaten record intact.
In a game neither team led by more than 7 points, Central Connecticut looked to have forced overtime with a short Michael Trovarelli touchdown with 58 seconds left. But unfortunately for the Blue Devils, they, um, forgot to cover Ky’Dric Fisher.
THE GAME WINNING TOUCHDOWN CATCH BY KY’DRIC FISHER pic.twitter.com/QhMeLe858F
— Dartmouth Football (@DartmouthFTBL) September 27, 2025
I can’t really say Kansas did a ton wrong here — the Jayhawks got a huge day from Jalon Daniels (445 passing yards and four TDs) and Emmanuel Henderson (214 receiving yards and two of those scores) and basically split third downs with the Bearcats and committed far fewer penalties. But Cincy’s Brendan Sorsby completed passes to nine different receivers and threw two touchdown passes to Cyrus Allen.
When Levi Wentz gave KU its first lead in nearly 55 minutes with a short touchdown reception with 1:45 left, the Jayhawks left too much time on the clock. Sorsby completed a fourth-and-10 pass to Noah Jennings, and Tawee Walker plunged in with the game-winning points with 29 seconds on the clock.
The longer the road trip, the better the Cal result. The Golden Bears beat Auburn, Wake Forest and Pitt on the road last season, and despite a dreadful start in Chestnut Hill — Boston College led 14-0 after just eight minutes — they produced a win in their longest ACC road trip yet. Kendrick Raphael gave Cal its first lead with 13:47 left, but Turbo Richard‘s 71-yard turbo boost made it 24-21 BC. After a fourth-down pass interference call bought Cal time, Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele hit Mason Mini down the left sideline for a 51-yard score.
0:25
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele throws 51-yard touchdown pass pass to Mason Mini
Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele throws 51-yard touchdown pass pass to Mason Mini
BC drove the length of the field, but Luke Ferrelli stepped in front of a Dylan Lonergan pass and the Golden Bears prevailed.
Oregon State can’t catch a break. After watching a late lead against Fresno State disappear earlier in the season, the winless Beavers played their best game of the season and led 24-10 with six minutes left. But Conner Weigman threw touchdown passes to Stephon Johnson and Tanner Koziol, and when a late Maalik Murphy-to-Trent Walker completion set up a shot at a game-winning field goal for OSU, basically the entire Cougar lineup broke into the backfield to block it.
0:31
Houston blocks Oregon State’s winning FG attempt to force OT
Multiple Houston defenders break through to block Cameron Smith’s winning field goal attempt for Oregon State.
It was Houston’s second blocked field goal of the night, and it made the ending feel preordained. In overtime, Brandon Mack and Zelmar Vedder stuffed OSU’s Cornell Hatcher Jr. on fourth-and-1, then Ethan Sanchez nailed the 24-yarder to keep Houston unbeaten.
Indiana passed yet another test, taking on upset-minded Iowa in Iowa City and misfiring for much of the middle of the game. Trailing 13-10 with less than 10 minutes left, the Hoosiers got a 44-yard field goal from Nico Radicic and a 49-yard catch-and-go from Elijah Sarratt to take the lead. This being an Iowa game, a late safety was legally required, but Indiana held on.
Last week, San Diego trailed Princeton 35-14 in the second quarter before storming back to win, 42-35. The Toreros decided the only way to follow that up was to spot St. Thomas a 27-10 lead midway through the third quarter. After a 54-yard touchdown pass from Dom Nankil to Cole Monarch cut the Tommies’ lead to 27-24, two fourth-quarter field goals from Emiliano Salazar — including a 25-yarder with two seconds left — sealed another wild comeback.
15. Div. II: No. 8 California (Pa.) 45, No. 4 Slippery Rock 38
As with FBS, Division II’s biggest game of the week went down to the wire. In front of 7,670 in Slippery Rock, Cal scored five touchdowns in 13 minutes to take a shocking 35-14 lead, but the Rock slowly reeled the Vulcans in. Kevin Roberts’ early-fourth-quarter field goal gave Slippery Rock a 38-35 lead, but Cal quickly retied the game, then took the win with Kendrick Agenor’s 14-yard touchdown run with 60 seconds left.
It was almost overshadowed by the two other wild Saturday afternoon SEC games, but A&M almost let one slip through its grasp.
The Aggies erased the Auburn defense and outgained the Tigers, 414-177, but their last six scoring chances resulted in five field goal attempts (two missed) and an interception that Xavier Atkins returned 73 yards to set up a short score. Somehow Auburn got the ball with a chance to win at the end, but poor Jackson Arnold got crushed by Dayon Hayes on fourth down — A&M’s fifth sack of the day and the 15th time Arnold has been sacked in two weeks — and the Aggies survived.
San José State did almost everything right. The Spartans methodically built a 12-point fourth-quarter lead as their in-game win probability crept over 90%. But the Cardinal drove 80 yards in the final three minutes, thanks in part to a 34-yard Caden High reception on fourth-and-10, and Sedrick Irvin‘s short touchdown gave them the lead with 19 seconds left. SJSU nearly drove into field goal range, but Leland Smith couldn’t hold onto a pass over the middle, and the Spartans came up short.
18. Div. III: Alma 29, No. 15 Hope 26
19. Div. III: Maryville 34, Pikeville 30
Big week for Scots! Both the Alma Scots and Maryville Scots came up with late heroics. In front of 3,206 in Holland, Michigan, Alma took down no-longer-unbeaten Hope by bolting to an early 14-0 lead and holding on for dear life. Hope tied the game with 22 seconds left in regulation but had to settle for a field goal in the first overtime. Facing fourth-and-goal from the 2, Alma went for the win and got it thanks to a touchdown pass from Carter St. John to Miles Haggart.
About 600 miles south in Maryville, Tennessee, Maryville looked as if it would cruise over NAIA’s Pikeville in front of 5,576. The Scots led 27-10 late in the first half, but a 20-0 run put the visitors on top. No worries! Maryville drove 86 yards in 44 seconds, and Bryson Rollins found Jalen McCullough with 35 seconds left to save the day.
For the second straight week, Rutgers enticed a rock-fight connoisseur into a track meet of sorts — Iowa last week, Minnesota this week — but couldn’t actually win it. A 4-yard Drake Lindsay-to-Javon Tracy touchdown gave the Gophers the lead with 3:19 left, but Rutgers worked the ball into field goal range until a devastating, 15-yard Rushawn Lawrence sack of Athan Kaliakmanis forced Dane Pizzaro to attempt a 56-yarder. He missed.
Hell yeah, Hokies. After starting 2025 so dismally that head coach Brent Pry was fired after just three games, Tech has won two straight. Terion Stewart enjoyed a breakout performance with 174 rushing yards, Kyron Drones threw two touchdown passes and Christian Ellis broke up a fourth-and-1 pass with 42 seconds left to clinch the win.
22. NAIA: No. 15 Dordt 21, No. 14 Northwestern (Iowa) 20
Dordt entered Week 5 as NAIA’s No. 1 team, per SP+, and the Defenders rallied to score a big road win over the 2022 national champs. After trailing 17-0 late in the second quarter, they took their first lead with just 13 seconds left, when Connor Dodd capped a 93-yard drive with a 4-yard TD catch.
This was easily UCLA’s best chance at avoiding a winless 2025 season, but as with their loss to UNLV, they spotted their hosts a big early lead and couldn’t quite catch up. They cut a 17-0 deficit to 17-14 with six minutes left, but two last-ditch drives went nowhere.
Pitt made this one as messy and chaotic as Pat Narduzzi could have hoped and bolted to a 17-0 first-quarter lead, but the Panthers couldn’t hold on. Louisville remained unbeaten by pitching a second-half shutout; the Cardinals took their first lead with 7:03 remaining, and their third interception of the day, with four seconds left, closed things out.
25. Div. II: No. 17 Central Washington 91, Western New Mexico 31
I had to end this list with one of the most confounding box scores I’ve ever seen.
Total yards: CWU 499, WNMU 468
First downs: WNMU 24, CWU 20
Red zone trips: CWU 6, WNMU 4
Touchdowns: CWU 13, WNMU 4
What??
CWU played an almost perfect first quarter, gaining 253 yards in 14 snaps and going up 35-0. The Wildcats then proceeded to score touchdowns on a kickoff return, another kickoff return two minutes later and a third-quarter pick-six. And because of turnovers and special teams, they had touchdown drives of 5, 40, 44 and 47 yards. And they managed to score nearly 100 points with less than 500 yards. College football is only ever allowed to make so much sense.
Who won the Heisman this week?
I am once again awarding the Heisman every single week of the season and doling out weekly points, F1-style (in this case, 10 points for first place, 9 for second, and so on). How will this Heisman race play out, and how different will the result be from the actual Heisman voting?
Here is this week’s Heisman top 10:
1. Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt (26-for-34 passing for 321 yards, 5 TDs and an INT, plus 83 non-sack rushing yards and a touchdown against Utah State).
2. Luke Altmyer, Illinois (20-for-26 passing for 328 yards and 2 touchdowns, plus 36 non-sack rushing yards and a touchdown against USC).
3. CJ Carr, Notre Dame (22-for-30 passing for 354 yards and 4 touchdowns against Arkansas).
4. Dante Moore, Oregon (29-for-39 passing for 248 yards and 3 touchdowns, plus 35 non-sack rushing yards against Penn State).
5. Ty Simpson, Alabama (24-for-38 passing for 276 yards and a touchdown, plus a rushing touchdown against Georgia).
6. Prince Dorbah, Arizona State (4 tackles, 4 TFLs, 3 sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery against TCU).
7. Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss (23-for-39 passing for 314 yards, a TD and an INT, plus 71 non-sack rushing yards against LSU).
8. Brendan Sorsby, Cincinnati (29-for-43 passing for 388 yards and 2 touchdowns, plus 63 non-sack rushing yards against Kansas).
9. Jalon Daniels, Kansas (19-for-28 passing for 445 yards and 4 touchdowns, plus 58 non-sack rushing yards against Cincinnati).
10. Xavier Atkins, Auburn (10 tackles, 2 TFLs, a sack, a forced fumble and a 73-yard interception return against Texas A&M).
I wrote about awesome running backs last week, but Week 5 belonged to quarterbacks. CJ Carr enjoyed by far the best performance of his career, and the winners of the two huge night games, Bama’s Ty Simpson and Oregon’s Dante Moore, both shined. But I gave the top two spots to a couple of veteran overachievers. Luke Altmyer completed four passes of 25-plus yards, all in the second half, and produced a 97.5 Total QBR rating. Diego Pavia, meanwhile, remains Diego Pavia: absurdly efficient via run and pass. He produced 404 total yards and six touchdowns, and if he wasn’t already in the Heisman discussion, he should be now.
Honorable mention:
• Micah Alejado, Hawaii (35-for-47 passing for 457 yards and 3 touchdowns against Air Force).
• Raleek Brown, Arizona State (21 carries for 134 yards, plus 50 receiving yards against TCU).
• Greg Desrosiers Jr., Memphis (19 carries for 204 yards and 3 touchdowns against FAU).
• Caleb Hawkins, North Texas (16 carries for 140 yards and 2 touchdowns, plus 78 receiving yards and a touchdown against South Alabama).
• Emmanuel Henderson, Kansas (5 catches for 214 yards and 2 touchdowns against Cincinnati).
• Trent Hendrick, JMU (11 tackles, three sacks, a forced fumble and a pass breakup against Georgia Southern).
• Sawyer Robertson, Baylor (24-for-35 passing for 393 yards and 4 touchdowns, plus a rushing touchdown against Oklahoma State)
• Nate Sheppard, Duke (15 carries for 168 yards and 2 touchdowns, plus 33 receiving yards against Syracuse).
• Liam Szarka, Air Force (10-for-12 passing for 278 yards, 3 TDs and an INT, plus 152 non-sack rushing yards against Hawaii).
Through five weeks, here are your points leaders:
1. Ty Simpson, Alabama (21 points)
2T. Trinidad Chambliss, Ole Miss (15 points)
2T. Taylen Green, Arkansas (15 points)
4. Jayden Maiava, USC (12 points)
5T. Jonah Coleman, Washington (10 points)
5T. Fernando Mendoza, Indiana (10 points)
5T. Diego Pavia, Vanderbilt (10 points)
5T. Sawyer Robertson, Baylor (10 points)
9T. Luke Altmyer, Illinois (nine points)
9T. Rocco Becht, Iowa State (nine points)
9T. Gunner Stockton, Georgia (nine points)
9T. Vicari Swain, South Carolina (nine points)
9T. Demond Williams Jr., Washington (nine points)
We’re seeing the beginnings of a sync-up between the points race and the betting odds. Obviously, Taylen Green (tied for second in the points race) isn’t a serious Heisman candidate, but points leader Ty Simpson is up to No. 3 in the betting odds, and Mendoza, Pavia, Stockton and Chambliss are in the top 10 of both the points and the odds. Still, it’s incredible how little has been settled as we approach the midway point of the season.
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