WEEK 6: WINNERS & LOSERS
WINNERS
Tulane: It’s still a mystery how Power Five schools overlooked Willie Fritz a couple of years ago after he went 17- 7 in two years at Georgia Southern, which moved up from FCS to FBS and immediately won big. But the Power Five’s loss was Tulane’s gain. Though they’re still a bit under the radar, the Green Wave moved to 3- 2 with a 62- 28 domination of Tulsa and are becoming an intriguing team in the AAC. Tulane already beat Army and nearly got Navy this year ( losing 23- 21), but blowing out Tulsa is validation for how much improvement Fritz has made after going 4- 8 last season. Fritz is a master at adapting his offense to his personnel, and he rarely gets outcoached. Tulane might not have the most talented roster, but it’ll be a pest going forward in their division.
TCU: With Oklahoma’s loss, the Horned Frogs are now the clear frontrunner in the Big 12. Of course, they also had to clear a pretty big hurdle Saturday at home against West Virginia. TCU got it done 31- 24 with Kenny Hill leading a 13- play, 65- yard touchdown drive for the winning score with 2: 53 left. TCU got outgained 508- 406, but the difference was two West Virginia turnovers. This is a very good Gary Patterson team, but it’s far from dominant. It probably will have to survive a few more roller- coaster games to come through without a loss.
LOSERS
Oklahoma’s defense: Maybe the Baylor game was a tell. Two Saturdays ago, the Sooners gave up 41 points to a winless Baylor team, and it was largely written off as disinterest. But clearly there was something else going on, as Oklahoma struggled again on that side of the ball against the Cyclones, giving up 368 passing yards ( to a pair of backup quarterbacks) and 81 on the ground. It’s looking more and more like the win at Ohio State — not the Baylor game — was the fluke for Mike Stoops’ defense.
Bret Bielema’s future: It’s hard to envision how bad it would have to get for Arkansas to pay a $ 15.5 million buyout to get rid of its coach. But this is kind of what it would look like. The Hogs were a slight betting favorite at South Carolina but got absolutely hammered 48- 22. Tied late in the first half, Arkansas gave up a touchdown drive in the final seconds, then South Carolina opened the second half with consecutive defensive touchdowns to put the game away. It was just a brutal all- around performance, and now Arkansas is 2- 3 with Alabama ( on the road) and Auburn coming up in consecutive weeks. That will put Arkansas in a huge hole before things get easier, but the atmosphere around Bielema is going to be toxic with a fan base that wants change.
— Dan Wolken, USA Today