Hot or Not? Week 5 Championship Heat Check: Where Is UGA Football?
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Hot or Not? Week 5 Championship Heat Check
Well sports fans, this weekend will mark the halfway point in the college football regular season. Are
you kidding me? Where has the time gone? Fans still have bye weeks to contend with, but we’ll officially mark the middle point of the season for most contenders this weekend.
Last week saw one contender fall in high scoring fashion while another survived a shootout. The
teams that are the hottest, so to speak, stayed that way while others vying for that title grinded along. The one thing the 2023 season has revealed thus far is that there is no true dominant force in college football. Each contender, regardless of where they stand right now, could rise or fall based on performance. No team has truly shown to be a wrecking ball week in and out. As teams continue to progress in their respective conference schedules the chance of upset rises, as college football is famous for it. And this upcoming halfway point is no different.
Hot:
1) Washington – Fighting off a plucky Arizona team on the road kept the Huskies undefeated.
Michael Penix continued to show Heisman mettle even though he didn’t find the end zone. The
Huskies committed 12 penalties, keeping the Wildcats in the game. After a bye week this
weekend, the Huskies will host Oregon in one of the most anticipated matchups so far this
season. Up next: Bye
2) Oregon – A week after curb-stomping Colorado, the Ducks traveled to Palo Alto and did the
same thing to Stanford. Bo Nix continues to pile up yards and touchdown passes, and the Duck
defense played about as well as they could against a hapless Cardinal squad. A week off will lead
to an epic matchup at Washington next week. Up next: Bye
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Simmering:
1) Georgia – A road win against your oldest rival is always a good thing, even though you trailed a
lesser foe twice during the contest. The Carson Beck and Brock Bowers show ultimately proved
too much for Auburn, but cracks exist on this team. So far, no team has been able to take
advantage of a Dawg squad this is still searching for its identity. This is still the most talented
team in the nation and once they get it going, watch out. A home night game against an
undefeated Wildcat team will be for supremacy in the SEC East. Up next: Kentucky
2) Florida State – The Seminoles got a semi-early season break with a bye last week. A middling
Virginia Tech team comes to Tallahassee this week. This isn’t your father’s Hokie program….and
this game should be a rout. Up next: Va Tech
3) Texas – Many thought last week’s opponent in Kansas would provide some resistance to a
surging Longhorn squad. Alas, Texas ran away in the second half with a 27-point outburst to put
the game away. Texas ran for 336 yards against Kansas and former UGA hero AD Mitchell caught
10 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown. The Red River Rivalry is this weekend against an
undefeated Oklahoma team that no one truly believes in…yet. Up next: Oklahoma
4) Michigan – The Wolverines’ first road game went about as well as you could have wanted as
they routed Nebraska 45-7. JJ McCarthy continues to play well, and the Wolverine defense has
been incredibly stingy. I don’t know what they must do to garner more first place poll votes, but
the gap between Michigan and Georgia is narrowing. Up next: at Minnesota
5) Ohio State – The Buckeyes survived the bye week without Ryan Day challenging any other
geriatric former coaches, so success! They host a Maryland program to whom they’ve never lost.
Up next: Maryland
6) USC – I think I’ve led all the USC entries with Caleb Williams, so why stop now? Williams threw
for 6 touchdowns as the Trojans withstood a late Colorado rally to hang on for the win. A week
after getting shut down by Oregon, Colorado showed the nation why USC may be a paper tiger.
Caleb Williams aside, this defense is not championship worthy. It’s not even decent. A contest
against Arizona, who gave Washington a tougher-than-expected time, awaits before a road tilt
against Notre Dame. Up next: Arizona
7) Alabama – I really hoped Mississippi State would have been able to give the Tide a better game.
This game was over at the half. Three Bulldog turnovers helped with that. Alabama still struggles
to move the football with consistency as they tallied less than 400 total yards of offense…again.
The Tide may have settled on Jalen Milroe as their starter, but their calling card this season will
have to be their defense. And heading into the place where King Nick lost his first game to a
former assistant, Alabama’s defense may be the only thing standing in between Saban and
another loss. Up next: at Texas A&M
Ice Cold:
1) LSU – In a wildly entertaining game for everyone but the Tiger defense, LSU saw any remaining
hope for a championship run evaporate into nothing. LSU gave up 706 yards of offense to an Ole
Miss team that barely cracked 300 against Alabama the previous game. While Jayden Daniels is
very good, he can’t overcome a defense that couldn’t stop a nosebleed. Maybe next year. Up
next: at Missouri
Watch List
1) Penn State – Penn State found its rhythm in the third quarter after being tied with Northwestern
at the half. That’s right, the same Northwestern that lost their coach in pre-season practice. I
keep them in this part of the list until they play someone of consequence and beat them. That
won’t happen for a bit, so get comfy here, Nittany Lions. Up next: Bye
2) Ole Miss – So, after a record-breaking offensive night the Rebels salvaged what’s left of their
season and live to fight another day. Coming off a deflating loss to Alabama, Ole Miss is still alive
in the hunt for the SEC West crown and a chance to get to Atlanta. To do that, they’ll have to
learn how to play defense. They have no margin for error, which has never gone Lane Kiffin’s
way. Up next: Arkansas
3) Oklahoma – In a game that was actually close in the second quarter, the Sooners pulled away 29
unanswered points to secure a comfortable win over Iowa State. I’ve hesitated each week to
include Oklahoma on this list because I was waiting for the inevitable Sooner meltdown game
that, shockingly, hasn’t happened. Beat Texas this week and a run to the playoffs is rather wide
open. Up next: Texas
There are three games this weekend that will have an impact on the national championship hunt:
Georgia – Kentucky, Alabama – Texas A&M, and Texas-Oklahoma. A loss by any of the favorites in each game will seriously hamper their chances to get to a conference championship and a potential CFP berth. With the way the TV scheduling gods ordained Saturday’s contests, each of these above games will be played sequentially with Texas – Oklahoma starting at noon, followed by Bama – A&M. While the playoff picture is still murky, and with numerous monumental games left to be played, this weekend is the start of separating the wheat from the chaff. Let chaos reign! But not in Athens…..