Miami is the only good team in the ACC

The ‘Canes successfully revamped both lines of scrimmage, and seem to be prepared for a national title run. Too bad they won’t get much of a challenge the rest of the way. Week five reinforced the notion that this will be a poor year for the rest of the conference outside of Miami. Florida State was upset by Virginia on Friday, halting the momentum from beating Alabama in week one. Georgia Tech needed a late comeback and a questionable call from the refs to escape Wake Forest. Syracuse was pounded by Duke after losing quarterback Steve Angeli for the season. Louisville struggled with Pitt, and will have its unbeaten record tested by ranked opponents the next two weeks. Clemson and SMU do not appear anywhere near the level of the teams that made the playoffs a year ago.

If Miami loses a game between now and the ACC Championship game, it will be because they beat themselves.

Notre Dame will be lighting up scoreboards

The Irish lost its first two games in heartbreaking fashion to Texas A&M and Miami. They need to dig themselves out of the hole by impressing the committee the only way it can — win in an absolute blowout each week. Notre Dame is not likely to play a ranked opponent the rest of the way, so it will need to pummel opponents on a weekly basis to prove its worthy of a playoff spot. The Irish blasted Arkansas 56-13 in what turned out to be Sam Pittman’s last game before being fired by the Razorbacks on Sunday. They will attempt for a similar result every week from here on out, as the committee won’t be impressed by just getting past the likes of NC State, Pitt, Stanford, Navy, Syracuse and BC.

First-Year quarterbacks are taking over

This was supposed to be a banner year for returning quarterbacks who go on to become high draft picks. It hasn’t quite worked out that way — at all. Cade Klubnick, Garrett Nussmeier, LaNorris Sellars, and yes, Drew Allar have all come much short of expectations. The same can be said for Arch Manning, who was prematurely hyped as a potential Heisman winner and #1 overall draft pick.

However, there are several first-year starters who are proving much better than their more experienced counterparts. Ty Simpson has been fantastic, and just led ‘Bama to a victory over Georgia on the road. Dante Moore is the new Heisman favorite after a stellar performance against the Nittany Lions. Gunnar Stockton has been proving he can make big-time throws and should live up to his five-star billing. C.J. Carr has shown quick improvement after a rough week one against Miami and will be a star under center for the Irish. Julian Sayin has been extremely accurate and efficient in leading the Buckeyes out of the gate. Bryce Underwood has shown flashes while being able to lean on the run game and defense, and will be dangerous by the end of the season.

So yes, there has been outstanding quarterback play this season — just not from the ones we expected.

End the LSU Hype

LSU quickly became a national title favorite after victories over Clemson and Florida. We’ve since learned that those two opponents weren’t quite what they seemed at the time. The Tigers suffered their first defeat of the season on Saturday, falling 24-19 to Ole Miss on the road. While it’s just one loss in a wide-open SEC race, it seems clear that the deficiencies on offense will cost them at least a couple more games. While they seriously revamped the defense into one of the best in the nation, the offense will be the reason they are squeezed out of the playoffs yet again under Brian Kelly.

Penn State Just Can’t Win the Big One

The Nittany Lions have failed against its top-tier opponents for far too long, but this year was supposed to be different. An exceptional offseason raised hopes that Penn State would turn the tide with perhaps the nation’s most talented and experienced roster. However, it was the same old story on Saturday as the Nittany Lions just couldn’t find a way to get past Oregon. Per usual, the defense tried to carry the team on its own, but it’s nearly impossible to beat any of the nation’s best teams when the offense is stuck in neutral for most of the game. They will have a shot at Ohio State next month, but it’s hard to see the offense finally coming alive in Columbus against a tremendous Buckeyes defense.