College Football Booms and Busts From Week 6: Oklahoma, Texas, Miami and More

October 10, 2023

Steve's list of college football booms and busts from Week 6. Which teams unexpectedly boomed in Week 6? Which programs fell flat? Read the Week 6 college football review.

Week 6 of the college football season taught us quite a bit. Some teams who were (foolishly) left for dead now appear to have life. Some who were coming on as contenders lost in truly inexplicable ways. Some programs just outright flexed their muscle and answered questions about how good they are.

As we get to the unofficial halfway point of the season, the national championship hunt appears to be relatively wide open. Georgia and Michigan look the part of a National Champion. Ohio State is lurking. Oklahoma announced itself as a conference and playoff contender. Washington and Oregon are about to play a massive game this weekend that should tell us more about who each team is. We have a handful of other teams still in the mix as we comfortably settle into October.

With about seven weeks left in the regular season, there is an enormous amount of football to play. Many of the Power Five conferences will cannibalize themselves as we get into the later stages of the conference slate. That does not mean we can forget what has happened to this point, as you cannot win championships in the first half of the season, but you sure can lose them. Let's take a look at the booms and busts from Week 6.

College Football Booms From Week 6

Oklahoma Sooners

What a difference a year makes. At this point in 2022, Oklahoma was coming off a 49-0 defeat at the hands of Texas, and some were questioning if first-year Head Coach Brent Venables was in over his head. Fast forward to Saturday, and Venables and the Sooners knock off Texas to remain unbeaten.

Oklahoma is now the last remaining undefeated team in the conference, and a rematch of the Red River Showdown for the Big 12 championship is very much in play.

Louisville Cardinals

All of last week, Louisville and its fanbase believed they were better than Notre Dame. On Saturday night, they went out and proved it. Coach Jeff Brohm has his Cardinals at 6-0 and dreaming of an ACC Championship Game appearance. While there will be work to do before punching that ticket, Louisville controls its destiny, flying high with the victory over a formerly top-10 Irish team. In the first season at his alma mater, things could not be going any better for Coach Brohm.

Georgia Bulldogs

We heard the noise for over a month. When is Georgia going to play someone? This is not the same Georgia we saw as repeat champions over the past two years. The questions and concerns went on and on. Then, an unbeaten Kentucky team showed up between the hedges. The Wildcats probably wish they didn’t. Georgia crushed Kentucky 51-13, and the game was never that close.

The Bulldogs allowed just 55 yards rushing to a team that ran for more than 300 yards the previous week. This game was also the coming out party for quarterback Carson Beck, throwing for almost 400 yards and four touchdowns. Georgia showed they are still among the elite, and until someone takes them down, they might be the best team in the country once again.

College Football Busts From Week 6

Miami Hurricanes

Miami should probably be in a tier of its own when discussing Week 6 busts. It is difficult to comprehend just how bad this loss is. Was it stubbornness by Head Coach Mario Cristobal (who, by the way, has done this before)? Was it an inability to understand the situation? Was it a simple failure of mathematics? However you want to label it, it is unacceptable. Miami was undefeated and enjoying a turnaround season.

That was taken from the players by an adult with an $8 million salary. A level of incompetence that is just so hard to fathom. Every single person in the Miami Football program deserves an apology from Cristobal. I am not sure how you bounce back from a loss like that.

Here we go again. Is Texas still back? Favored by almost a touchdown in their meeting with rival Oklahoma, Texas failed to get the job done against the Sooners and once again found themselves in limbo. The Quinn Ewers Heisman campaign was likely derailed with three turnovers, and Texas needs to pick up the pieces again after losing another big game. There is a silver lining as Texas controls its destiny in forcing the rematch with Oklahoma for the Big 12 Championship and potentially a playoff spot.

That probably does very little to ease the minds of the Longhorn faithful.

Texas Christian Horned Frogs

2023 was supposed to be another big year for TCU. Fresh off an appearance in the National Championship game, Head Coach Sonny Dykes had his team looking towards a potential Big 12 championship. Unfortunately, they might be fighting to play in a bowl game. TCU outgained Iowa State in a sloppy game on Saturday, but they turned the ball over four times, allowing the Cyclones to walk away with a 27-14 victory.

The Frogs have lost back-to-back conference games and sit at 3-3 overall. TCU has a brutal schedule the rest of the way, including tilts against Texas and Oklahoma, which could lead to TCU being home for the holidays.

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