Week 6 was one of the weaker slates of the season up until this point, but shocking upsets and fierce comebacks highlighted this week.
1. Vandy Stuns Top Ranked Tide
The Vanderbilt Commodores, one of college football’s most consistently bad football programs, shocked the world on Saturday. Taking down the top ranked Alabama Crimson Tide in a mind blowing upset sent shockwaves throughout the college football landscape. This is by far the biggest upset in recent history and one could make an argument it’s the greatest of all time. The Commodores advanced to 3-2 with this win and will travel to Lexington Kentucky to face the Kentucky Wildcats. Alabama however suffered their first loss of their 2024 campaign and will host the South Carolina Gamecocks in hopes of getting back on track. Despite their stumble the Tide still has a lot going for them and if defensive struggles are addressed they can still make a run at the title.
2. Arkansas takes down Top 4 Vols
The Vols have looked nothing short of dominant through their first 4 games of the season and this was not the case Saturday. The unranked Arkansas Razorbacks welcomed the Vols into a packed house. The crowd appeared to play a huge part in the game and affect freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava. He had his worst game as starter for the Vols throwing for just over 150 yards and no touchdowns. The unsung part of the Volunteer team is their defense which played well in this game but didn’t hold up in the 4th quarter. The Volunteers will look to bounce back in a home contest next week against SEC rival Florida.
3. Texas A&M and the 12th man overwhelm Missouri
Head Coach Eli Drinkwitz and his 9th ranked Missouri Tigers squad entered Kyle Field for a ranked SEC clash against the Aggies. Missouri, despite being ranked 16 spots ahead of the Aggies entered the game as the betting underdog. Since taking over in 2020 Missouri has found great success with Drinkwitz at the helm. Last year, they won 11 games and defeated Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. This year while returning most of their core players they have not found the same success. With near slip ups to Vanderbilt and Boston College and a 31 point defeat to a decent Texas A&M team. The Tigers will look to bounce back in the coming weeks and return to 2023 form in hopes of a potential playoff berth.
4. Cam Ward leads Canes to a 25 point comeback win
The Canes entered Saturday ranked 8th in the country taking on the California Golden Bears for College Gameday. Cam Ward and the Canes found themselves down 25 nearing the end of the third quarter when Cam Ward entered take over mode. Throwing for 3 touchdowns in the fourth quarter and overtaking the Bears. His final touchdown to Elijah Arroyo with 26 seconds left devastated the California crowd and put the Canes ahead. The Hurricanes now look to get healthy and more focused on their upcoming bye week. After two narrow contests they will go on the road to Louisville in hopes of remaining undefeated.
5. The Cards’ struggles continue against SMU
Coach Jeff Brohm during his first season as the head coach of the Louisville Cardinals found incredible success. He started this season 3-0 and appeared to be on a similar trajectory, until falling to Notre Dame then following that loss with a home loss to SMU. This is the first time in Brohm’s tenure at Louisville he has lost two straight regular season games. The Cards have some serious defensive struggles to address if they have any hope of salvaging their season. The positives for them include a weak schedule and high level play from their offense. I believe the Cards have a strong offense and can still manage a solid season. Although, if their defensive lapses don’t get corrected they will struggle to beat the remaining upper tier teams on their schedule.
