The slate of college football today delivered some fantastic ranked-versus-ranked matchups, including a nightcap of the Oregon Ducks vs Penn State Nittany Lions and the Alabama Crimson Tide vs Georgia Bulldogs. Week 5 could go down as one of the best weekend in college football this year and there was plenty to take away from Saturday’s action from across the nation.
Let’s dive into our winners and losers from College Football Wek 5.
Related: Week 6 College Football Rankings, Latest Top 25 After Week 5
Winner: Notre Dame QB CJ Carr Shines in Road Win vs Arkansas
Making the trip to Arkansas, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish were only a 6.5-point favorite over the Razorbacks. Many expected Notre Dame’s offense to perform relatively well, but thanks to Chris Ash’s defense, the expectation was that it would be a close game. In only his second career road start, Carr put Arkansas in a hole that it could never dig itself out of and he did an outstanding job spreading the football around.
- CJ Carr stats vs Arkansas (ESPN): 22-of-30, 354 passing yards, 11.4 yards per attempt, 4 passing touchdowns
Related: Notre Dame Game Today, Fighting Irish Football Schedule 2025
The freshman quarterback spread the wealth on Saturday, connecting with seven different pass-catchers. While no Fighting Irish player cleared 90 receiving yards, four eclipsed 50 receiving yards. Over his last two games, Carr has completed 76.2 percent of his passes with a 6-0 TD-INT ratio, 577 passing yards and a 90-plus ESPN QBR in both games. He should keep that going back at home versus Boise State.
Loser: Mike Norvell and the Florida State Seminoles
The Florida State Seminoles absolutely looked like a team that was looking ahead to Miami and came out unprepared for Virginia. That’s on head coach Mike Norvell. Florida State simply came out flat, falling behind 14-0 early and creating a situation where the team had to change up its approach playing from behind. Tommy Castellanos wasn’t perfect, but he delivered clutch throws when the Seminoles needed them late in the game. Unfortunately, the slow start and ill-preparedness proved costly.
Related: Biggest College Football Coaches Buyouts
Winner: Luke Altmyer Leads Illinois Past Mistakes to Game Winner
It was another brutal showing for this Illinois Fighting Illini defense, which has now allowed 490-plus total yards in consecutive games. To make matters worse, two fumbles in the Trojans’ territory wiped out scoring drives, including a potential game-sealing touchdown. Yet there was Luke Altmyer capping off an already crisp performance with a game-winning two-minute drill. Illinois needed that one, especially since a road game versus Ohio State is just two weeks away.
Related: Highest-Paid College Football Players 2025
Loser: Auburn Tigers’ Offensive Line Fuels Ugly Spiral
The Auburn Tigers offensive line is probably going to cause a four-game losing streak. After allowing Jackson Arnold to be sacked 10 times a week ago, with 14 tackles for loss surrendered, Texas A&M had its turn on Saturday. Auburn allowed 6 tackles for loss and 5 sacks, resulting in this Tigers’ offense averaging 3.8 yards per attempt and 2.2 yards per rush as a result. With Georgia and Missouri up next, there’s a very strong chance Auburn goes from 3-0 to 3-4.
Winner: Haynes King Leads Georgia Tech to Historic Comeback
Haynes King just finds a way. The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets trailed 20-3 with 10:33 to go in the third quarter, needing their second-biggest comeback in program history to avoid their first loss of the season. Sure enough, King came through. Over the next 30 plays for the Yellow Jackets’ offense, King led them to 17 points and 196 total yards. Then, with under 95 seconds left, Georgia Tech’s star led a game-tying drive to send it to overtime, where he, of course, won it. At some point, King might deserve a statue.
Loser: Garrett Nussmeier’s Draft Stock and the LSU Tigers Offense
=In the defense of quarterback Garrett Nussmeier, the LSU Tigers haven’t provided him with a dependable ground game to take the pressure off him. Entering Week 5, LSU ranked 11th in rushing offense (116.8 rushing yards per game) and yards per carry (3.74). So, without Caden Durham, it came as no surprise this offense netted just 2.6 yards per carry on Saturday. Tigers’ play-caller Joe Sloan had no countermeasures to deal with that and with this entire offense resting on his shoulders, Nussmeier (5.8 ypa and 61.8 percent completion rate) came up short in another big game. This team still has to face Texas A&M, Alabama and Oklahoma, too.
Related: LSU Game Today, Tigers Football Schedule 2025
Winner: Ohio State’s Caden Curry and Kayden McDonald
There’s dominance in the trenches and then there’s what Ohio State Buckeyes defensive linemen Cayden Curry and Kayden McDonald did on Saturday to Washington’s offense. Ohio State’s pass-rushing duo combined for five of the team’s six sacks. That’s not all they did either. Curry (five) and McDonald (three) were each at the top of the leaderboard today in tackles for loss. We also have to tip our cap to Buckeyes defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, who is certainly getting the most out of this unit.
Related: College Football Defense Rankings 2025
Loser: Nico Iamaleava’s Decision Looks Career-Altering
First, let’s check in on the quarterback who Nico Iamaleava pushed out of town. Joey Aguilar is now the man on campus in Knoxville, leading the Tennessee Volunteers to a 4-1 record with 15 total touchdowns and nearly 1,500 total yards of offense. Meanwhile, Iamaleava is stuck on a UCLA team that will likely go winless while he has seven total touchdowns and is still under 1,000 total yards.
Related: Nico Iamaleava Transfer Destinations to Escape UCLA
With a strong year in Tennessee, there’s at least a chance that Iamaleava could’ve been a first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Instead, he has no choice right now other than entering the transfer portal again and trying to prove himself elsewhere. The problem with that, of course, is he’s damaged his reputation. Between poor play, how he left Tennessee, and the reports that came out about his leadership afterward, his options in the portal won’t be quite as strong as everyone expects.
Winner: Diego Pavia is Ready for Bama
It’s safe to say that Diego Pavia’s excitement to face the Alabama Crimson Tide again didn’t prevent him from looking past Utah State. The Vanderbilt Commodores quarterback took some time off late, thanks to a six-touchdown performance with a 93.3 ESPN QBR and 400 total yards of offense. Pavia’s Commodores are 5-0, and he now has a chance to go into Tuscaloosa and devastate the fan base. Given how personally he takes these games, it’s going to be entertaining one way or the other.
Related: Highest-Paid College Football Coaches 2025
Loser: Kentucky AD Mitch Barnhart Trapping Program with Stoops
Ordinarily, the “losers” on this list are reserved for players who underperformed or coaches who cost their team a win. The Kentucky Wildcats are their own case. Saturday’s embarrassing loss to South Carolina dropped Kentucky’s football program to 3-8 since Oct. 12, 2024, with eight consecutive losses to SEC teams. Unfortunately for the fan base, athletic director Mitch Barnhart structured the Mark Stoops contract so that the school would be on the hook for $40.5 million if they fire him this year. Kentucky owes him 75 percent of his contract, in a lump sum, whenever he’s fired. That’s not something a basketball school can afford, and the fan base is going to suffer for it for a lot longer.
Related: Highest-Paid Athletic Directors 2025
Winner: Dante Moore Kickstarts his Heisman Trophy Candidacy
Opposing quarterbacks had averaged just a 98.7 passer rating (eighth-lowest in FBS), 123.3 passing yards per game (11th) and 0.7 passing touchdowns per game against Penn State’s defense this year. So, Dante Moore throwing for twice as many passing yards (248) with three times as many touchdowns as Penn State’s defensive averages absolutely catapults him toward the front of the Heisman Trophy race. Add on the fact that he delivered two OT touchdowns in a win at Beaver Stadium, the buzz is about to explode.
- Dante Moore stats vs Penn State: 29-of-39, 248 passing yards, 3-0 TD-INT, 35 rushing yards
Related: Highest-Paid College Football Coordinators
Loser: Kirby Smart and James Franklin Can’t Escape Demons
The Georgia Bulldogs and Penn State Nittany Lions both had multiple chances to take down their fellow national championship contenders on Saturday night. Instead, both head coaches could only watch as their demons came back to haunt them. Smart is now 1-7 against Alabama and Franklin is 4-21 vs top 10 teams. That’s more than enough sample size to say both of these coaches have an issue. At least for Smart, his Achilles heel is far less damaging to the Bulldogs’ national title aspirations.
Related: Winners, Losers from Alabama vs Georgia
